Review: Amy Irving Sings & Tells Stories Of How She Was BORN IN A TRUNK At City Winery

Heigh-Ho, My Merry Rainbow Tribe! Bobby Patrick your RAINBOW Reviewer here. Grabbing that silent T in cabareT to bring you all the Tea!

Well, my darlings, Monday night found us sitting in the Hudson River... on Pier 57 to be precise, inside City Winery. The event was the album release party for BORN IN A TRUNK, the first-ever album and, indeed, the first full music endeavor by Academy Award Nominated actor Amy Irving. Now, down through the years, my dears, we have VERY occasionally been treated to some of Ms. Irving's vocals. Most famously, she provided the singing voice to her pal Kathleen Turner's speaking voice for sultry femme fatale Jessica Rabbit in WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT. She has also recently put in appearances in NYC singing a number here and there, including joining BWW Fave, Susie Mosher, for THE LINEUP. But BORN IN A TRUNK on Monday night was her first-ever full hour-long music set before an audience, and it was all in celebration of this, her first-ever music album. In this show of BORN IN A TRUNK, Amy used her talkie bits as memoirs, reminiscences, if you will, weaving the songs together with tales of her life, loves, movie memories, and her family.

So why this new venture for someone who self-professed, on the night, to have always been focussed on her acting? Amy says we can blame her second son, whose father was her second director husband, Bruno Barreto. When Gabriel Baretto, a musician, producer, and manager, took his mom to dinner, little did she know he would deliberately keep the wine flowing and talk his mother into a collab with band leader and client, Jules David Bartkowski (aka Goolis). With Goolis providing some pretty nifty arrangements, Amy set about making this musical memoir of her life with the world she knows, the movies she has done, and the music, either from those films, or that happened around them, as the stones in her creative pathway. The album title BORN IN A TRUNK alludes to Amy's show business roots as the child of film and groundbreaking theatre actress Priscilla Pointer and pioneering regional theatre director Jules Irving. If you would like a lesson on the history and importance of theatre in America, look them up, my children... look them up.

Now, to the evening at hand and this wonderful performer's significant step out of her comfort zone. With Goolis and his band as her support, La Amy took the stage looking fully the picture of the earth mother artist she has grown into. In a fab green lace peasant dress, tousled silver curls, and round hornrimmed glasses, she drew us all in with her open vulnerability, telling us where she was in life and why this first-ever musical adventure seemed right for her. Her first number I NEVER DREAMED ... came from CARRIE, a film where Amy's Mother played her Mother, and Katie Irving, provided the vocals for this song in 1976. Amy sings very much the way she talks - vulnerable and sweet... and then with some real power in her upper register. As a tribute to her own father, Amy sang Amanda McBroom's tribute to her actor father, David Bruce, a jobbing contract player who appeared in films with (and inspired McBroom to write) Errol Flynn. Here, her slightly countrified voice and old-world sound, with just the piano accompanying her, gave the song a touching and wonderful story feel. This was the lane of the evening, as Amy wove each number together with her life stories that inspired the album's creation. Throughout the set, there was a kind of brilliant befuddlement in her relationship with the audience. She always stayed with us and took us with her but, this having been her first-ever concert, the flaws, goofs, and memory fluffs were completely forgiven because she was taking care of us more than herself. A highlight of the night came with I'M WAITING FOREVER, a song by her HONEYSUCKLE ROSE co-star, Willie Nelson, written just for her, and, on this night, with a wonderful arrangement by Goolis. This number resonated from a strong placement in her voice, as well as in her acting of it. Now must come a few raindrops with this rainbow review, dear readers, as we must say at times the vocal range of Amy's setlist would dip too low in the lady's voice and get lost, and when this happened, at the beginning or end of a phrase, it would do harm to the song overall. Also, there were times when Goolis and his band were too powerful for their singer's maiden voyage. Song number seven on Amy's set list, HOW INSENSITIVE, was all but lost behind a wall of sound that obscured the words and meaning for this rainbow writer. We would offer that, as more appearances are bound to happen, a bit of a re-think in the vocal part of these arrangements, in order to keep the notes in the best part of this wonderful performer's voice, would be in order, along with a scrupulous sound check that ensures the musicians act as a foundation supporting their singer in ways that do not obscure.

All in all, though, for her first time being shot out of a musical cannon performing her own show in the singer spotlight in the HUGE (and packed) City Winery, Ms. Amy Irving landed on her feet and brought a lot of joy to the assembled parties. It was fascinating to discover the newly minted musical chops of this terrific actress, and we look forward to reviewing BORN IN A TRUNK the album in the coming days, right here on Broadway World. For now, we say Bravo to Amy Irving for her chutzpa, for stepping out of her comfort zone, and to her son Bruno for knowing that mom could make it happen, for we did have a good time and we give Amy Irving BORN IN A TRUNK at City Winery a nice...

3 ¾ Out Of 5 Rainbows

Follow Amy Irving On Her Pro Insta Account: HERE

She Also Has A Link Tree: HERE

Listen To BORN IN A TRUNK On Your Spotifies: HERE

Follow Amy's Terrific Collaborators, Goolis, On Their Insta: HERE

As Well As Her Talented Son, Musician & Manager Gabriel Baretto On His Insta: HERE

Album Cover art by Taylor Wright Rushing (@twrushing)

All Photos By Yours Truly, Bobby Patrick

 

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