Review: JULIET EWING: SIMPLY 'S WONDERFUL - THE MAGIC OF GERSHWIN at Chelsea Table + Stage

Actress and singer Juliet Ewing held a sold-out CD release concert at Chelsea Table + Stage on November 7th with Simply ‘SWonderful – The Magic of Gershwin, under the direction of Lina Koutrakos.

Ewing is a dynamic performer with decades of experience in Broadway and regional productions of shows like Footloose, Kiss Me Kate, 42nd Street, and Crazy For You.  After spending time raising a family, she returned to showbiz as a cabaret performer, quickly making a name for herself. The show, with one exception near the end, consisted of songs composed by George Gershwin, primarily with his brother, Ira Gershwin. (For songs written with other lyricists, their names appear following the title, in parenthesis.)

Simply ‘SWonderful is also the name of Ewing’s first full studio album. For this set, Ewing was back by the top-notch trio of pianist/musical director Ron Drotos, bassist Michael O’Brien, and drummer Eric Halvorson.

A tall blonde beauty, Ewing has mesmerizing blue eyes and a commanding stage presence. She arrived to the stage in a sparking black gown, her band members dressed old-school in black suits, ties, and white shirts. She immediately began singing the title song. Ewing dropped some scat singing into the performance. She is more of a traditional Broadway belter, with a forte in storytelling, though her scat is serviceable. Ewing interspersed personal stories with some background on the material. Her patter is warm, interesting and entertaining.

A unique arrangement of “Oh, Lady Be Good” commenced with Ewing’s scatting, and included a vocalise, madrigal-like bridge, an interesting choice.

A pair of show highlights found Ewing singing with only a single musician. For “Slap That Bass,” a fun rhythm number introduced by Fred Astaire in Shall We Dance, Ewing performed it entirely with bassist O’Brien. Taking to a stool, Ewing sang “The Man I Love” with only Drotos on piano after his gorgeous intro. She was at her best here, with an excellent interpretation and phrasing, and convincing acting. The big, dramatic finish went over enthusiastically.

An interesting surprise was the Gershwin rarity “The Lorelei.” Rarely recorded, this “siren song” made the cut on the album. Ewing had fun with this cute, sexy number, with lines like, “I’m lecherous, ja ja, I wanna bite my initials on a sailor’s neck” and “I wanna be just like that other trollop,” risqué for its time.

Ewing’s gave a sneak preview of her next project, a Cole Porter album, with “Too Darn Hot.” A good number for Ewing, it was a bluesy arrangement, and had her doubling scat notes with the trio. A sudden jump to a chase scene pace made it even hotter. Overall, this was the best number of the set.

An odd choice was a dramatic “reimagining” of “Summertime” (DuBose Heyward), reworking it from a lullaby to a passion piece with an almost entirely different melody than Gershwin’s, and minus its famous and integral “line cliché” (a descending chromatic bass line against a static or slowly changing minor chord), only finding the melody when it got to “one of these mornings,” then promptly lost it again until nearly the end. For this writer, the arrangement was a headscratcher that did not work at all. (The audience, however, ate it up.)

A finale of “I Got Rhythm” was reworked to include meta references to other Gershwin songs. A standing ovation warranted an encore, a beautiful rendition of “Isn’t It A Pity” with only Drotos on piano, and which is not on the new album.

Ewing is a fine performer and storyteller. Her voice is powerful, and she is comfortable with rhythm numbers and ballads. Learn more about her at www.julietewing.com.

For more great shows at Chelsea Table + Stage, visit chelseatableandstage.com