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Dorothy Bishop has been called everything in cabaret circles from "singularly outstanding" to "proof that women can be drag queens, too." And she's proven every adjective in between when displaying her talents over the last few seasons with her Dozen Divas Show, at a variety of spaces not just on the mainland but several cruise lines. However, upon a close re-examination of her stupendous talents most recently at Metropolitan Room (34 West 22nd Street), this dynamite darling may well have crossed over into utter genius.
Bishop takes risks that few would ever have the guts to attempt; she utilizes pre-recorded tracks instead of live musicians, as well as a variety of additional multimedia and numerous costume and wig changes. More dazzling than this is that she never knows until the day of that evening's show exactly which impressions she'll be performing out of the more than two dozen she's already mastered. And this, beyond anything else, may be her greatest strength among several. An Atlanta native who arrived on the fair shores of New York City to attempt a career at becoming one of opera's greatest new stars, it wasn't long before she realized her phenomenal aptitude for celebrity impersonation and comedy that is quite genuinely brilliant, and though she's never left opera completely in the lurch, it takes a backseat to her current efforts. And how.
The evening begins on this particular night with Bishop as the late Joan Rivers, complete with blinking halo, which leads to a parody of the hip-hop classic "Too Sexy," followed by topical references to the Cosby rape allegations and the recent "break-the-Internet" publicity stunt of Kim Kardashian's widely-seen photo from the rear (for which Bishop has donned an oil-soaked plastic female posterior to her own hindquarters). This is followed by her rendering of Dame Shirley Bassey singing both "Goldfinger" and "Light My Fire," in an impression so shatteringly-marvelous that indeed one could easily spend the rest of the evening watching and hearing her do nothing but Bassey. But this merely gives way to impersonations of Kristin Chenoweth (teaching a vocal lesson, yet, with a puppet body attached to the bodice of her costume) for a parody of "Defying Gravity," and then Sarah Brightman singing a British-accented "O Mio Babbino Caro" and the title song from "The Phantom of the Opera."
Her impression of Barbra Streisand comes next, first on a solo of "Evergreen," and then accompanied hilariously by a video sequence as Judy Garland for their duet of "Get Happy/Happy Days are Here Again." We are greeted next in succession by Renee Fleming with an operatic/jazz/scat rendering of "Don't Mean a Thing," Stevie Nicks on a tripling of "Rhiannon," "Landslide" and "Edge of Seventeen," a video of Bishop's virally-acclaimed Sarah Palin, Madonna on a coupling of "Like a Virgin" and "Hung Up," Liza Minnelli singing both "Single Ladies" and "And the World Goes 'Round," and finally Cher with "Welcome to Burlesque," "If I Could Turn Back Time," and "The Way of Love." As if none of this was enough, Bishop makes it a point to emerge at the end accompanied by her adorable mini-Chihuahua Luther, to sing "I Got You Babe" as herself with a coloratura idiom. It all amounts to an evening of entertainment for which "uninteresting" would be the least likely adjective. And it should be noted that Jean-Pierre Perreaux provides effortless technical direction throughout, as only the gentleman can.
Dorothy Bishop will return to Metropolitan Room for at least four monthly dates through May of 2015. In the meantime, the uninitiated should make it a point to observe for themselves the power and the glory that is this wondrous woman wherever next she may also appear.
