Review: MARILYN MAYE IN CONCERT at Feinstein's At The Nikko

There’s a giant dynamo inside the petite frame of Marilyn Maye that propels her constantly forward, now approaching her 98th birthday, and eighth decade of performances. She’s a national treasure and receives adulation befitting her status wherever she performs. Here at Feinstein’s for a three-night engagement, Maye delivered what she has become renowned for- a powerhouse set of familiar tunes peppered with anecdotes of a life well lived.

Backed by longtime collaborator and musical director Fred Firth and local aces Daniel Fabricant on bass and David Rokeach on percussion, the ever-spry Maye opened with a clip from one of her seventy-six appearances on the Johnny Carson show. Varying little in key from those early days, Maye is a master of owning each song and morphing it into her big belt vocal. “Cabaret” leads into two of many mashups, this time “I Hear Music"/ "The Song is You,” and “Here’s That Rainy Day"/"Stormy Weather.”

Most of the songs were culled from her stint on Carson as well as some tunes by her friend Steve Allen (“This Could Be the Start of Something Big,” “I Love You Today”). Maye swings to Jerry Herman’s “It’s Today” from Mame and sang the cute “Shalom.” Maye listed off some of her many credits: Mame, Follies, and Hello, Dolly!, joking that she never got the Broadway versions. It became a running joke, chiding that she wasn’t bitter.

“As Time Goes By” rolled into “I Cried for You,” and a lovely version of “Guess Who I Saw Today” from the 1952 musical New Faces had the audience giddy with delight. With a new CD arriving soon, Maye sang “Lush Life” and “The Secret of Life,” another keystone in an illustrious career. “By Myself” segued into “Being Alive,” showstoppers each. Few performers can grab an audience’s heartstrings like Maye. To her fans, she’s an inspiration and a force of nature. She closed with Hello, Dolly!’s “Before the Parade Passes By” into “That’s All,” and after an almost two-hour set, Maye gave it her all.