Review: Carolyn Montgomery Packs 54 Below With girlSINGER

(In the time between this performance and the following review, Carolyn Montgomery won a MAC Award for Best Tribute Show for girlSINGER.)

It is often said that those who can, do; those who can’t, teach, but Carolyn Montgomery is currently (and adeptly) proving the adage quite wrong.  The Executive Director/Director of Education and Outreach of The American Songbook Association spends her days finding, creating, and executing ways of educating young people in the public school system about the history of song, and about the songs themselves, but by night she is a nightclub entertainer who has been packing them in for the last year with her Rosemary Clooney tribute show girlSINGER.  Now, it has to be said that all of Montgomery’s literature on her Rosemary Clooney tribute show simply lists it as girlSINGER, but on the 54 Below website for her March 25th performance (and probably for customer clarification), a subtitle has been added:  A Celebration of Rosemary Clooney.  That’s all well and good, and isn’t it nice that there is a celebration of Rosemary Clooney that audiences can go to see BUT (and, again, it has to be said) one need not be a fan of Rosemary Clooney to enjoy girlSINGER.  It helps but it is not essential.  It is not essential because the girlSINGER in this show, indeed the honoree of this show, is not Rosemary Clooney - it’s Carolyn Montgomery.  There is trivia and there are stories about the legendary singer but there isn’t enough to tell audiences who she was - for that, they will need to read about her.  What there is, though, is a lot of stories about what Rosemary Clooney means to Carolyn Montgomery.  There are stories about the ways in which the two women were/are similar, and there are stories about changes that overcame Montgomery as she read the Clooney autobiography Girl Singer, repeatedly, at the insistence of Director/Artistic Director Sally Mayes (who Montgomery impersonates with effortless ease).  This is Carolyn Montgomery’s story… it’s just told through the lens and the music of Rosemary Clooney.

And it is told beautifully.

For her seventy minute romp down the Clooney/Montgomery lane, Carolyn displays a playful confidence that doesn’t just permit her to relate with her audience, it insists upon it, and it is a major factor to one’s ability to enjoy the musical play that she is presenting.  For upbeat numbers like “Fancy Meeting You Here” and a medley in which she aces “Nice And Easy Does It,” Ms. Montgomery draws her guests in with affable energy and adorable facial expressions that tell them this is not one of those park and bark shows where the singer stares at the back wall, too afraid to look into the eyes of the people in the seats out front.  It is clear that she wants to share herself with the crowd - how else could she, so audaciously, do drive-by comments about her own life and love life before circling back to the catalyst for the stories being told?  Montgomery crafts her story blithely, with winking glimpses into her history and tales about Clooney that play like teaser trailers for the upcoming number.  It balances out brilliantly in spherical directions, a high wire act that keeps the patrons guessing and grinning… until they're not, and that’s when the acting comes in, for Carolyn Montgomery is an actress.  Hers is a lovely voice and a pleasing voice, but it is not a distinctive voice.  Rosemary Clooney had a distinctive voice.  Carolyn Montgomery has a pretty voice that has been trained - it is the voice of a musical theater actress who could be playing Nellie Forbush or Babe Williams, and, as such, with the musical numbers comes acting, and in abundance.

While telling her story and Clooney’s, Carolyn Montgomery scored major points with some specific numbers (the entire show is quality music and storytelling), like a kind of ridiculous Latin medley featuring “Come On A My House,” “Sway” and “Mambo Italiano,” and a spectacular version of “Tenderly” - and the reason I mention these two numbers in conjunction is because they are polar opposites from each other.  The Latin medley is absurd and silly, but so is Carolyn Montgomery, a notorious goofball who could not possibly do a club act without letting that side of herself come out.  It is only by sharing all the facets of ourselves that audiences come to know and appreciate who we are in real life, and Carolyn Montgomery is a woman with legions of friends, colleagues who adore her, and a family to whom she dedicates herself, often through humor.  While showcasing Rosemary Clooney’s propensity for swing music and pert compositions, Montgomery and Mayes found a perfect opportunity to bring the goofball right into the living room.  Then, mere moments later (and after a significant happening in Clooney’s life), Montgomery goes gutsy during a performance of “Tenderly’ that orchestrates a deft transition (to reveal from what to what would be unfair) that places Carolyn’s acting skills front and center, and right on top of your heartstrings.  It is an extremely effective moment in storytelling that will, no doubt, always leave a lasting impression on audiences, made possible by the delicate way in which Carolyn Montgomery manages to land somewhere between acting and telegraphing, a wonderful and wondrous feat for any person engaged in the act of presenting an evening of musical storytelling, and one not easily achieved by many.

Ms. Montgomery is aided in her efforts by an exemplary band (please see the names of all the musicians below) led by that gentle genius Tedd Firth: whether playing as a team or sharing stunning solos, the gentlemen backing the headliner brought their A game to the proceedings, freeing up Carolyn up to focus on her own A game.  It was no wonder that the audience of cabaret luminaries was so wildly responsive to the evening’s entertainment - a resonant indication that all the reviews and accolades for girlSINGER have not been misguided.  Other highlights for this reviewer were Montgomery’s mournful version of “The Masquerade Is Over” and a wistful, maybe slightly weary, “I Wish It So” that brings girlSINGER to a solidly hopeful close with a benevolence and good will designed to send the audience home knowing they have seen a right proper cabaret show… and that they need to dial up Rosemary Clooney on their computer and pick up where Carolyn Montgomery has left off, which is probably what Ms. Montgomery was aiming at in the first place.

The girlSINGER band is Warren Vache on trumpet, Mark McLean on drums, Matt Scharfglass on bass, Jonathan Kantor on saxophone and clarinet, and Musical Director Tedd Firth conducting from the piano.   

Sally Mayes is the Director of girlSinger.

Find great shows to see on the 54 Below website HERE.

Carolyn Montgomery has a website HERE.

The American Songbook Association website can be accessed HERE.

Photos by Stephen Mosher