Review: Marieann Meringolo A Class Act In A CENTURY OF SONG at 54 Below
Celebrating Alan & Marilyn Bergman plays encore to full house.
Alan and Marilyn Bergman were lyricists. They were poets. They were artists whose names were synonymous with excellence in the music industry, creating works that would be performed by some of the music world’s most prolific and profound singers. Nobody was like them. And although it was their artistry that gave them their fame, their love story (eventually) contributed as much to their legend as their lyrics did. That love, those lyrics, that legend will carry the name Bergman into the future for a long time to come, maybe as long as forever. At this moment in time, less than a year after Alan’s death, and three years since Marilyn’s, people everywhere are honoring them with tribute shows and celebration concerts, and, given the source material at these shows, walking in the door, there is a reasonable expectation of an enjoyable experience. But walking in the door at a Marieann Meringolo concert compounds the confidence.
Meringolo, a much-lauded artist of the musically-inclined persuasion, has been playing her Bergman show (the full title of which is A CENTURY OF SONG - CELEBRATING ALAN AND MARILYN BERGMAN) for a little bit, though she has been singing their songs for a greater period of time than the one in which this musical cabaret has existed. An interpretive vocalist of considerable skill, Ms. Meringolo is ideally suited to the lyrics of The Bergmans, which is probably why she has leaned into their canon for so long, and all of those skills were on full display when she played her most recent performance of A Century of Song on March 29th at 54 Below. Backed by an exquisite band made up of Bassist Boots Maleson, Drummer Brian Woodruff, and Musical Director & arranger Doyle Newmyer at the piano, Marieann held her audience happily captive for eighty minutes, leading them through a wide-ranging set of songs that covered the Bergmans’ career from early on (when Marilyn’s last name was still Keith) to very recently (a song Alan wrote for Marilyn after her death). A person well-versed in the compositions of Marilyn and Alan Bergman might have arrived expecting a ballad-heavy evening, and they would have been right except that the first half of the show brought balance with several examples of the more jovial side of the Bergmans, which was wonderfully refreshing, especially in the hands of so expressive and playful an artist as Marieann Meringolo. Right out of the gate, Ms. Meringolo welcomed the crowd to the whimsy. Entering from the bar wearing an outfit everyone wants to wear, whatever their gender, Marieann warmed the room up with the classic “Nice ‘n’ Easy” before transitioning into a performance of “That Face” that was pure comedy as the elegant entertainer pulled out all the stops in order to joke with guests at whose table she paused to play. As much a clown as she is a class act, Meringolo knows the benefit of opening oneself up to possibility. This kick-off number was a solid indication of what was to come, as was her second, an evening highlight by Larry Kerchner titled “What Would The Bergmans Do?” that allowed Meringolo an abundance of comedic choices. It was clear that this tribute was not intended as a musical Wikipedia page, but as a night of fun.
Now, on the subject of musical Wikipedia pages, A Century of Song was chock-full of facts and histories, many of them new to this writer, and the experience of learning these tales and trivias did not feel like being in class. That is a credit to Meringolo and director Will Nunziata for creating a script that flowed in her own speech rhythm, that employed her own syntax, that felt prepared but not practiced. Indeed, at times it seemed as though Marieann was finding her words in real time and applying them to both the memoirs of the Bergmans and her own relationships with both the material and the audience. It gave her and her performance a personal air, although there was an unfulfilled tease late in the act, when Marieann began a story about her childhood, her family, and the movie Yentl. What felt like one of Marieann’s amusing anecdotes from her life (a major reason to see her shows) ended up being a drive-by. There is always room for a slice-of-Meringolo-life moment, but perhaps she and Nunziata wanted the focus to be lasered in on Alan and Marilyn, in which case, mission accomplished. (But I did miss that special touch that comes with a Meringolo family storytime.)
Speaking of Yentl, the reason for this particular monologue in the programming was the lead-in to a performance of a song from the Barbra Streisand-helmed movie musical, and it has to be said: it is such a pleasure to hear someone sing “A Piece of Sky” who can actually sing it. Many are the singers so intent on performing the anthem that closes out the film, but few are the ones who can actually carry it off. Something always goes wrong, and when it happens, it’s hard to hide; but not when Marieann Meringolo is at the mic. You kind of know, the second she sings “It all began the day I found that from my window I could only see a piece of sky,” that you’re going to the full treatment without the bottom falling out. Mr. Newmyer has provided Ms. Meringolo with a stunning arrangement of the song that strips out all the references to “Papa Can You Hear Me” but that keeps the tension required to build to the song’s crescendo. The treatment and the proficiency of the musicians lift up Meringolo; meanwhile, she is using her vocals to lift them up, right back. This is a true artistic collaboration.
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Another Barbra/Bergman moment heavily featured (and expected) in the evening is what might be their most famous song, “The Way We Were,” which Team Meringolo presents in conjunction with an earlier composition that didn’t make the cut, most frequently referred to as “The Way We Weren’t.” It is a noteworthy moment in the programming because singing “The Way We Were” is an extremely dangerous proposition for any singer, but, as with the Yentl song, Marieann Meringolo executes the performance to such a high degree of excellence that she effectively steps out of the shadow of Streisand. That is, indeed, an impressive feat.
Other musical highlights in the evening included a sensational “Just Getting Started” that gets a hilarious introduction involving Carl Reiner, an “I Was Born in Love With You” that showcases some luscious low notes that we don’t hear often enough from MM, a well-interpreted rendition of the heartaching “Where Do You Start?,” and a treatment of “The Windmills Of Your Mind” that is inventive and intense, showcasing the flip side of all the jaunty numbers from the first part of the act: dynamic drama. Meringolo and Nunziata took great care while creating the trajectory of the evening to give the audience an ebb and flow, landing Windmills at the transition from Act One (made up of up-tempos and jazz treatments) to Act Two so that the Oscar-winner would lead into a segment of seriousness featuring Windmills, “What Are You Doing The Rest of Your Life?,” “I was Born in Love With You,” “The Way We Were(n’t),” and a mash-up of “How Do You Keep The Music Playing?“ and “Summer Me/Winter Me.” It is clear that the creatives are serving a three-course meal with the first course being all the lighter fare, the second being the heavy hitters, and the dessert course being the feel-good “It Might Be You” and a festively arranged “You Must Believe In Spring” - this isn’t random, friends. It is programming that is both pleasing and purposeful, and that’s what happens when artists put their hats on and come to work, including 54 Below lighting designer Becky Morris, who turned the light plot for the concert into another character in the show, rather spectacularly so, yet never distracting from the action on the stage. Although not a billed member of Team Meringolo, Morris deserves a guest spot for her follow-spot and all the colors and moods brought to the proceedings by her form and focus. One can’t help but think that everyone involved with the May 29th presentation committed themselves intently to the performance in order to honor Alan and Marilyn Bergman, but in the process, they honor their audience. And that is what proper cabaret storytelling is all about.
Find great shows on the 54 Below website HERE.
Visit the Marieann Meringolo website HERE.
Photos by Stephen Mosher
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