The Watergate tapes helped bring down the presidency of Richard M. Nixon. The tapes Michael Bennett recorded of Broadway dancers telling intimate details of their lives led to the creation of A Chorus Line. But this past Monday night at Birdland, a captivated audience thrilled to the sounds of the most historically significant tape in the history of American culture. Yes, I'm writing of the mixtape a young Donna Lynne Champlin recorded and sent anonymously to the boy she was crushing on, Broadway star-to-be Brian d'Arcy James. In one of the more deliriously mad episodes of her debut cabaret show, Finishing The Hat, Champlin sings along with an excerpt from the legendary B-side of this musical love confessional, where she edited bits of different songs to give her massively-eyebrowed heartthrob clues to her identity. She then explains how she systematically stalked d'Arcy James during his Broadway runs of Blood Brothers and Carousel, before eventually being cast opposite the lad in a play reading where her character was required to seduce him.
And at that point of the show, she's only just started.Though she's most know for her work in musical theatre (even her straight play role in Broadway's Hollywood Arms featured her vocal prowess) there is surprisingly little singing in the showcase Donna Lynne Champlin devised for herself. Oh, yes we do get treated to her piercingly expressive belt and intelligent phrasing, but Finishing The Hat is truly centered on her talents as an engaging storyteller. There is a hat filled with index cards, each referring to an amusing, and more typically embarrassing moment in Champlin's life. Audience members are invited to pick a card to determine what story she'll tell next, making each performance a unique experience.With the skill of a seasoned physical comic and the wry sense of humor of someone who has been there and back, she tells us of career misadventures, disappointing boyfriends and freakishly odd personal experiences without ever seeming self-indulgent. The bravery she shows in talking about some very personal matters is quite endearing and her natural sincerity makes the evening seem less of a performance and more of a casual gabfest you might have with a pal over a couple of beers. And, of course, every story is capped off with an appropriate song.Top: Singing "The Air Is Free"
Bottom: Demonstrating how her ex-fiancé proposed
Videos