Review: Ava Nicole Frances Shines In GLITTER AND BE GAY at The Laurie Beechman Theatre

Ava Nicole Frances is a woman of an age when most people are being called up-and-comers, but Ava Nicole Frances is not an up-and-comer.  She’s here.  She’s been here for a while.  The singing actress, cabaret and concert performer, and newly minted singer-songwriter is more appropriately to be referred to as a continually-evolving-artist.  With each passing year, and every new project, the young woman born to entertain grows more accomplished and, further, develops her voice, a voice she has been developing since a very young age.  Not, of course, her singing voice, which is unfathomably well-trained, but her artistic voice, her aesthetic, her vibe, as the young ‘uns say.  Ava Nicole Frances is a work in progress, a diva in training, and a star in the making.  It’s going very well for her, too, as her latest cabaret outing has proven, once more.

GLITTER AND BE GAY is the new cabaret show to be presented by ANF - and it’s already done, like a holiday that comes and goes, leaving behind happy memories, lots of photographs, and glitter all over the floor, the house, and every surface you have touched, until, at least, March.  This show that played The Laurie Beechman Theatre on December 13th, did glitter, and it was gay.  No other result was possible.

For her holiday outing, Ms. Frances assembled a spectacular team of musicians to help boost the quality of the proceedings, which is precisely what happened - a wise move, since a voice like Ava’s should be adorned, as adorned as possible, but let it be said that even if ANF just went out with Darnell White and the piano (or guest artist Ryan Thompson and his guitar), she would be just fine.  But it was a holiday show!  The opening tune was “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year”!  Ya HAFTA have a full band!  So, along with Musical Directing Marvel Mr White, Ava Nicole had Jon Weber on Violin, Algonzo on Saxophone, Eric Wharton on Bass, and John Berger on Drums.  It was like Mrs. Claus nicked five of St. Nick’s elves to make herself merrier, and, in the process, the audience members were the merry ones.

Ava Nicole Francs is a charmer.  She’s open and she’s friendly, she’s a good storyteller and she’s got good stories.  She’s very natural in her oration (though, at times, voluble - there was an element of rambling, now and then), and she knows how to deliver a punchline.  The lady also knows how to get to the heart, so for her holiday outing she was able to run the gamut from playful to soulful, from poetic to dramatic - but, most of the time, where Ava Nicole wanted to be was in The Big Zone.  This is a big talent and it’s a big voice, and that’s why compositions like “Wrapped In Red” and “Blow, Gabriel Blow” and “Sparklejollytwinklejingley” are perfect for her - but ANF doesn’t need the belty numbers to be in The Big Zone because she has a gift for taking something quiet and intimate and making it epic, like “Who Would Imagine a King” and “Cindy Lou Who,” both performances evening highlights (the latter made especially lush by Mr. Weber’s violin).   Frances is a singer and a storyteller of note, one to watch, and one to be enjoyed - nothing could have been more apparent during the segment of her program when she presented her own song “Vague.”  It’s a wonderful thing and an important thing for singers to perform covers, to present famous songs in their own manner (Frances scored high marks with an “Over the Rainbow/Home” medley) but when a singer writes their own stories, when they create their own material, they are building the foundation of a house that is only theirs.  Ava Nicole Frances has become just such an artistic architect.  “Vague” is a magnificent piece of writing, and when she performed it on December 13th, she elevated the proceedings to a new level.  It was the undisputed triumph of the evening.

This was not, though, the only triumph of the evening.  Because Ava Nicole Frances did not just name her show Glitter and Be Gay (does everyone know Ava has two daddies, a fact which makes the show title really germane to her life?), she SANG “Glitter and Be Gay”!  Anyone who has heard Ava Nicole belt in her lower and middle registers might have doubted she had “Glitter and Be Gay” in her repertoire (raises hand), but those anyones might have been wrong (raises hand).  It would appear that there is no end to Ava Nicole’s ability, a fact which she proclaimed, pronounced, and proved on Saturday night, with this number.  The performance earned her a mid-show standing ovation, which she rightly deserved   Indeed, every bit of accolade bestowed upon Ava Nicole by her audience was well-earned, though one might offer that a ninety-minute cabaret show is somewhat on the lengthy side, and Frances and her meticulous and dedicated director, Frank Silletti, might steer clear of the ninety-minute mark with future shows.  Still, Glitter and Be Gay was a holiday show and a special occasion (as well as the final show of the night at The Beechman, which grants leeway) - the audience was rapturous and sated, so we can blur those lines a little and call the outing a success of the resounding nature.  After all, one day in the distant future, people will probably be saying they saw Ava Nicole Frances sing at The Laurie Beechman at the beginning of her career… kind of like the people who tell the tale of having seen Barbra Streisand at the Bon Soir at the start of hers.  It’s only a prediction… but I’(M) Willing to bet I’m right.

Find great shows to see on the Laurie Beechman Theatre website HERE.

Visit the Ava Nicole Frances website HERE.

Photos by Stephen Mosher