Review: Jenn Colella Brings The Rainbow to 54 Below With OUT AND PROUD

The day known as Gay Pride is, famously, the last Sunday in June.  But the celebrations for the holiday honoring the existence of queer people and the importance of their visibility and rights begin on June 1st, and last the entire month.  Theatrical playbills are adorned with the colors of the gay pride flag, events and parties are planned and executed every day of the month, and nightclubs are filled with LGBTQIA+ shows.  One of the annual outings for many people (queer and otherwise) is the Jenn Colella gay pride show that plays 54 Below.  And, before this article goes any further, kind folks reading this article who think that Pride is just about the parties and the celebrations, please brew a pot of tea, log on to your computer, and do a search on the Stonewall Riots and the origins of Gay Pride because it is important to know the history of the activism, as well.  Jenn Colella is an entertainer and a storyteller, but she is also an activist, and her method of activism is the spreading of truth, joy, and love - a mission statement well-captured in the title of her show, OUT AND PROUD.

Jenn Colella isn’t just one of the most popular and well-loved actresses of Broadway, she’s a consistently sold-out performer in cabaret and concert, here in New York and outside of our fair city.  She has a devoted fan following made up of musical theater devotees, followers of the live music scene, and members of the LGBT family, and at her recent appearance at 54 Below, people from all three groups filled the seats at the tables, and filled the air with love and affection for their favorite show tune belting, rock and rolling, positive energy spreading mostly lesbian (in her shows, Colella often references the men she dated on her way to marital bliss and motherhood with wife Mo Mullen).  As is the case with any Jenn Colella show, there is no wrong that the Tony Award nominee can do, from her place on the stage, or off the stage, either, since Jenn is no stranger to crowd work, and frequently prances and dances her way around the room while rocking out to songs like “Knock on Wood” and “Piece of My Heart.”  In fact, many of the song selections on Colella’s set list are compositions we’ve heard her sing before, and with good reason.  We want these songs.  We hope for these songs.  Yes, it’s always great when Jenn plays a new selection, but this superfan has to admit that when I attend a Colella show and don’t get “The Story,” I go home a little disappointed.  Happily, the current edition of OUT AND PROUD features all three of these popular hits just mentioned, as well as the singular Jenn Colella arrangement of “I Could Have Danced All Night” and “It’s Raining Men.”  For the Out And Proud show, we don’t need a facelift, we don’t need freshening up, we just need Jenn and the songs we already know.  This is one of those times when, walking in the door, you know you’re going to get perfection, from start to finish - that’s how well constructed and executed the Colella Pride show is.

But here’s where the perfection starts and stops:  Jenn Colella’s heart.  Now, I’ve referenced this in many Colella reviews in the past, and there have been some, too, because I tend to always ask to cover the Colella shows.  They’re special, just like she’s special, and it’s not because she’s one of the great singers, one of the great actors, one of the great storytellers (all of which she is - check out the emotional commitment to each story, and each type of story within itself), it’s because Jenn Colella has a particular way that she is able to present as an entertainer who is an activist.  Jenn has things to say about the way things are, the way things ought to be, the way we dream things could be, but she does so without getting in-your-face about it.  She has politics, but she doesn’t have political speech.  She makes her opinions known while making space for other people’s opinions.  She comments on society while spreading positivity.  Any time a queer person gets in the light and talks about Pride, it’s an act of activism.  Any time queer people and their allies gather to celebrate queerness, it’s an act of activism.  And any time Jenn Colella gathers people together in a room to see her entertain, it’s an act of love.  Is the singing the best you’ve ever heard and ever will hear?  You bet.  Is the storytelling going to make you laugh uproariously, wipe mist from the corner of your eye, and clutch your heart in sympathy shivers?  Unquestionably.  And will you fall in love with Jenn Colella, no matter your regular everyday proclivities?  Oh, yeah.  So, you just have to go, or, in my case, go back, again and again.  But I don’t want to just speak in vague terms, so let’s talk about the show.

Along with the previously mentioned rock and disco classics that Jenn Colella presents in OUT AND PROUD, audiences can expect some show tunes originating from Mr. Sondheim, who wants everybody to say “do,” and relating to Peter Pan, who will take you to Neverland.   Colella informs the audience that she can see clearly (now), and that she wants to dance with somebody, and she will certainly make you feel her love.  (Are you getting all the not-so-subtle references?)  There’s some amazing Ani DiFranco, some outrageous Otis Redding, and some groovy Gloria Gaynor... and there is an especially stunning “Joyful Noise” by Colella comrade Shaina Taub.  Jenn has an unstoppable band made up of Carl Carter on Bass, Emma Ford on Drums, Kevin Ramassar on Guitar, and with Chris Ranney, musical directing from the Piano.  Jenn Colella also has some sisters in divadom by way of Alexa Green and Nikisha Williams, who supply support vocals with a side of serious solo action.  The entire program is, from start to finish, a celebration of Pride, of queerness, of love and friendship, and of quality - quality entertainment, quality 54 Below programming, and quality humanity, all worth seeing, which you can when OUT AND PROUD plays an encore performance in July, rather like extending your birthday, anniversary, or any other cause for celebration another week or two.   So, click HERE and, come July 14th, you can see, for yourself, why I never miss a Jenn Colella show.  Soon enough, you won't either.

Jenn Colella OUT AND PROUD returns to 54 Below on July 14th at 7 pm - tickets are HERE.

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

Jenn Colella can be found online HERE.

Photos by Stephen Mosher

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