Ricky Pope - Page 2

COME CELEBRATE WITH MARILYN MAYE,  is ostensibly a celebration of her upcoming birthday. But it is so much more than that. It is a celebration of all the fans who have made Maye as loved and respected as she is. It is a two-way avenue of gratitude between an entertainer and those she entertains. It’s hard to say which is more delightful, the songs themselves, which are beautifully sung and acted, or the banter that feels as unscripted as a cocktail party. And Marilyn Maye is the most charming host of her own fête. Two weeks ago she performed with 80 musicians at a sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall. But is this Marilyn, with only herself and her trio, that I prefer. An intimate evening of great songs and good-spirited bonhomie.

The self-proclaimed 'senior citizen, redneck, lesbian, diva' brought her post-modern talk show to the Green Room 42 last night. It was, as we say in the South, a 'ring-tail tooter' of an evening.

From the moment she appeared in the audience singing “One Night Only from Dreamgirls, sliding down a banister like a wacky Mame, you knew you were in for a comedic master class. She is an excellent mimic, a powerhouse singer, and in the end a sensitive and truthful actor. She is living proof of Elaine Stritch’s maxim, “To play comedy you have to be real.” Jennifer Simard is absolutely the real deal.

A dynamic concert graced the stage of 92NY this past weekend.

Last week, it was with great joy that I went to 54 Below to see the TCU Department of Theatre Senior and Alumni Showcase. As about half of the performers were graduating seniors, it isn't really fair to review the evening, but there was so much talent on the stage it is an event that should be noted. These are performers we will definitely be seeing in New York again, and soon.

We all love to reminisce. A trip down memory lane is highly satisfying. In fact, for those of us who are devotees of The American Songbook, reminiscing is sort of our gig. Susan Mack has made it the theme of her evening, SUSAN MACK: YESTERDAYS, which opened yesterday at Birdland. And Ms. Mack is, indeed a singer worth remembering. She has a voice as full-bodied as honey, with impeccable pitch and delicious taste in music. She put together a program of classy, often rueful tunes about days gone by, both hers and ours. As she points out, the beauty of calling a show YESTERDAYS is that you can sing anything written before today.

There is one place on the modern East Side where that world of NY cognoscenti is as alive and vibrant as it ever was. Café Carlyle is the perfect setting for John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey’s show EAST SIDE AFTER DARK. They serve up tune after tune from that 50s and 60s scene where life didn’t begin until after sunset and jazz was the currency of the smart set. Pizzarelli, son of jazz great Bucky Pizzarelli, is a world-class guitarist who has worked with a long list of luminaries including Rosemary Clooney, James Taylor, and Paul McCartney. He has recorded 20 solo albums and has appeared on at least twice that number for other artists. Jessica Molaskey, a Broadway baby if ever there was one, has appeared in a dozen or more hit shows including Sunday in the Park With George, Cats, Crazy For You, Chess, Oklahoma!, City of Angels, Parade, A Man of No Importance, and Songs For a New World to name only a few.

Ms. Dver looks great, sounds, great, and breezes through her treatise on gratitude with a light and confident touch. She is, as Cole Porter would say The Hostess With the Mostess’ on the Ball.

Ricky reviews Rian's JACQUES BREL night at Don't tell Mama.

Roberta Donnay has turned her attention to the legacy of Blossom Dearie for her 10th studio album BLOSSOM-ING!, subtitled 'Celebrating the Music of Blossom Dearie.' And it is a celebration indeed. Throughout her 3 decade career, Donnay has explored the many sounds and genres of the 20th century. She is a stylistic shape-shifter who is equally at home in rock, folk, and jazz. For this album, she accentuates the wispy quality of her instrument to match the ethereal nature of Dearie. She has captured Blossom Dearie's gift for playful storytelling and interplay between vocalist and instrumentalist. Her album is a joy to listen to from start to finish.

Dorian Woodruff is exactly the sort of crooner the Bergmans wrote for. His voice is warm and dextrous, his diction is perfect without being ostentatious and he displays a wide emotional range. He found the rich subtext of the Bergman’s romantic themes and made it about his own heart. He concentrated on three of the great loves of his life and how the Bergman’s songs accompanied those romances.

What Lisa Viggiano has as a performer that was not apparent in Jane Olivor’s work is a wry and ironic sense of humor. When Viggiano allows her spirit to come front and center, the show she has created with director Mark Nadler really flies. However, for much of the performance, it feels as if Ms. Viggiano is attempting to constrain her own ebullient personality into the earnest, serious personality of Jane Olivor. I left the show wanting less Jane Olivor and more Lisa Viggiano. In short, Jane is cramping Lisa’s style.

Phillip Officer was a prevalent name in NYC cabarets in the 1990s and early 2000s. He made a name for himself on Broadway in the cast of the original SIDE SHOW. And his cabaret evenings were always highly regarded by critics and audiences alike. But as he explained this evening, in 2008 he packed everything he owned into several large bags and not quite knowing why boarded a plane to Las Vegas, a place he had never been, with the intent of starting a new life. His baggage was lost along the way. How’s that for a metaphor?

n KEEP A TENDER DISTANCE, Ms. Ward has taken a large artistic leap forward from her previous collection of Sondheim. A PERFECT LITTLE DEATH was recorded in the middle of the pandemic in Ward’s home studio and contained 13 songs utilizing mostly just her solo voice and a guitar. The new album feels like an entirely more collaborative affair.  There are a plethora of instruments and lots of backup vocals (even though many of the voices are Ward herself.) Her technique has grown sharper, both as a vocalist and an instrumentalist, and her emotional range is deeper and more on target.

One of the most enduring of human beliefs is the idea of the existence of an afterlife. All sorts of terrors and challenges can be endured in an earthly life if one believes in a world beyond where things will be not only better but perfect. That is one of the central ideas of THE FIELDS OF AMBROSIA, a musical that is opening next week at Surflight Theatre in Beach Haven, NJ on Long Beach Island.

There is a phenomenon that occurs at Joe’s pub sometimes. Once in a while, you feel a little tremor underneath the seats while you’re watching a show like you’re experiencing a small earthquake. It’s attributable to the 6 train that runs directly below the Public Theatre on Lafayette Street. However last night, the tremor that was felt was completely due to the act onstage. Tori Scott was in complete command of the room, a room packed with fans there to celebrate her return to Joe’s Pub after a 2-year absence. For ten years she has been making appearances at the downtown cabaret and has developed a sizeable following. If her show, TORI SCOTT: JETLAGGED is any indication, it’s no wonder she has such devoted followers.

Cheeyang Ng is an impressive human. They are celebrating nearly a decade as a resident of New York. The native of Singapore came here, as they said to escape some traditions and find a truer, more authentic version of themself. That journey is reflected in many of their songs, which focus on the joys and the uncertainty of being in unfamiliar territory, whether it be relationships or career ambitions of just self-actualization. They seem drawn to examining the multitude of thoughts and feelings that occur in a split second of actual time. In short, Cheeyang Ng writes about the active mind.

Betty Buckley is in great form. Her control over her instrument is remarkable, singing soft and gently, making her audience wait for the clarion tones that are her trademark. But when it’s time to belt, she delivers. She is masterful at creating musical monologues. For all her musical gifts you never forget that you are watching a great actress at work.

At every point of her career, Liz Callaway has been closely associated with the work of Stephen Sondheim. Her Broadway debut was in Merrily We Roll Along, which despite its sadly brief run has gone on to be the ultimate cult musical. Along with Merrily co-star, Jim Walton, she sang excerpts of Sondheim’s work when he appeared on Bravo’s Inside the Actors Studio. She has also appeared in a number of Sondheim tributes including You’re Gonna Love Tomorrow and the much-heralded concert of Follies in which she played Young Sally. This month, Liz Callaway pays tribute to the recently departed maestro in a very personal evening entitled TO STEVE, WITH LOVE which will premiere at Feinstein’s 54 Below on March 23. I had the pleasure of talking to Ms. Callaway about the show and her body of work with Stephen Sondheim.

Nelson Riddle, the legendary arranger/orchestrator/composer is largely responsible for what we think of as the sound of The Great American Songbook. His arrangements and orchestrations for artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Nat King Cole Dean Martin, Judy Garland, Johnny Mathis, Rosemary Clooney, and Doris Day, created for the Capitol label defined the sound of the 40s, 50s, and 60s. He is responsible for resuscitating Sinatra’s career and turning him into the legend he became. Riddle is the creator of the “Rat Pack” sound, composing scores for Robin and the Seven Hoods and Ocean’s 11 among dozens of other films. He won an Oscar for the score of 1974’s The Great Gatsby in addition to 3 Grammy awards, two of them for his album collaborations with Linda Ronstadt that revived his extraordinary career shortly before his death in 1985. It’s hard to overestimate his importance to American popular music.