Review: Janine LaManna Owns The Stage In BLACK & GOLD at The Green Room 42

Does everyone remember a time when the Las Vegas strip was ruled by the showgirl?  Not the showgirls, like the statuesque dancers covered in sequins who performed in the nightclubs - these showgirls were the female headliners whose names appeared on the marquees, who sold out every show that bore their name.  Joey Heatherton.  Lola Falana.  Mitzi Gaynor.  Raquel Welch.  Ann-Margret.  These were but a few of the legendary women upon whose shoulders the Las Vegas entertainment industry was built, and they put on these epic, female-driven productions that audiences flocked to, in droves, productions accurately known as nightclub acts.   Nightclub acts were different than concerts and cabarets - they had a structure and a vibe that leaned heavily into the glamorous, the eye-popping, the jaw-dropping, the sensual, the powerful, and the unforgettable.  Everyone everywhere knew that if you went to Las Vegas, you had to catch these ladies’ nightclub acts, whichever of these woman headliners happened to be appearing during one’s trip.  

Well, the nightclub act is back, it has come to Manhattan, and it has arrived in the person of Janine LaManna.

On June 10th, Broadway star and symphony concert performer Janine LaManna played The Green Room 42 in what was her debut solo show on the cabaret and concert stage.   Although the show business veteran has appeared in cabaret shows before, it has always been as a guest in another artist’s show, and now we have had a chance to see what we have been missing all these years: a powerhouse performer whose instincts and presence on the solo show stage go far beyond that of a neophyte making their debut.  Janine LaManna has come out of the gate a winner, in one of the best debut shows this writer has, yet, witnessed.

BLACK & GOLD is a show that Janine LaManna has built around her life and her life as a singing actress, sharing stories from her formative years, her time on the various stages of the entertainment industry, and her role as a family woman.  These stories in words and in song are hung on a structure that follows, impeccably, the nightclub act format, a fact that presents itself in real-time as LaManna presents one vignette after another, sometimes with rhetoric acting as connective tissue between musical numbers, and sometimes simply segueing from one song to the next with no need of introduction or explanation.  The audience must simply put itself in the LaManna hands, trust that she knows what she is doing and where she is taking them, and allow her to lead the way without pandering to them.  Follow, or catch up later.  It is an elegant and eloquent path of no resistance that Janine creates with Black & Gold, and no audience could or should be more grateful to be sitting in a club going on a musical journey.  Janine LaManna is fierce, she is formidable, and she is fantastic.

Having made her life on the musical theater stage, there is, quite naturally, a certain amount of Broadway in Black & Gold, but the program LaManna has created is varied and multi-faceted in genre, which is just fine because it turns out that Janine LaManna can sing anything, a fact that was actually a surprise to this writer who was expecting Evelyn Nesbit, Janet Van De Graaff, Gertrude McFuzz, maybe even a little Tess Harding.  Didn’t get ‘em.  Didn’t miss ‘em.  Oh, yes, there is some talk of Seussical, even some music from Seussical, but this show, start to finish, is all Janine LaManna, and a good thing, too, because Janine LaManna is enough.  Here is a woman, an actress, a singer, an entertainer so exciting to watch (to listen to!) that, from your seat in the audience, you don’t want the show to end, you don’t want to go home.  From those first strutting steps onto the stage, in her shape-hugging sequin dress, Janine LaManna is power personified, and that’s before she even opens her mouth to sing to her amazing band’s flawless playing.  And when she does open her mouth to sing, it’s downright unbelievable.  And the disbelief continues with each number - this might be Joey Heatherton, Lola Falana, or Raquel Welch of the Las Vegas strip of the past, but the voice is pure Celine Dion of Las Vegas modern day.  Who knew Janine LaManna was hiding this rock and roll voice?  Who knew Janine LaManna was meant to be a radio star with a string of Top 40 hits?  Who knew Janine LaManna was this kind of star?  What a voice.  What a presence.  What a talent.  It was a revelation and it was a bonafide thrill, the kind you hope for when you go into a club, a hall, an arena, any venue of any sort - this is why we go to live music shows.  We go to be thrilled.  We go for this kind of musical storytelling.

Now, regular readers know that I will, occasionally, leave off details about a show, including song titles, so that the artist has a chance to tell their story to their audience unencumbered, and so that the audience can enjoy the storytelling without spoilers.  This is one of those times.  Janine LaManna’s nightclub act is so seamlessly constructed with such a perfect curation of songs, anecdotes, honesty, humor, emotion, and electrifying talent that I cannot find it in my heart to spoil it for the audience that will attend the encore on June 26th, and if there is any justice in the world, this newfound talent of the nightclub stage will find her electrifying self and nightclub act booked into clubs around the country for many more nights like this one.  She is most definitely Crazy Coqs material, are you listening, London?  Black & Gold was, genuinely, authentically, truthfully,  simply one of the best debut shows of this or any other season.

Janine LaManna will play Black & Gold at The Green Room 42 on June 26th at 7 pm.  Make a reservation now HERE.

The Black & Gold band are Ray Marchica on Drums, Jeff Lopez on Bass, and Musical Director Steve Marzullo on Piano, and they are out of this world.

Photos by Stephen Mosher; Visit the Stephen Mosher website HERE.

 

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