Review: LILLIAS WHITE LIVE AT THE BEECHMAN A Wild Ride Of Music and Mirth

The invasion of the divas continues at The Laurie Beechman Theatre, where, on March 6th, Tony Award winner Lillias White kicked off Lillias White LIVE AT THE BEECHMAN, which would be more appropriately titled Lillias White BRINGS LIFE TO THE BEECHMAN.   Like a benevolent tornado or beautiful hurricane, Ms. White storms the stage, all fire and ferocity, in order to take her audience on a trip while bringing them to her heart, all the while holding them in the palm of her hand.  White, a true original and a character right out of Characterville, operates as an entertainer with one motive in mind: to connect to her audience.  Lillias White is an artist and a storyteller, but first and foremost, she is a human being, and, as such, she has a wish to be in touch with other human beings, to touch people, to bring them to her, like a madcap Pied Piper, a goal that she achieves at the highest level.  There is no simply sitting back in your seat and enjoying the show; your participation is requested, your presence is required, and your attention is to be paid.  White even stops the show, at a certain point, to ask for the house lights, so that she can see the faces of the people in the audience.  It is a bold and bodacious moment in her show… but more on that moment later.  Let’s talk about the show itself.

For her ninety-minute musical cabaret, Lillias White has collaborated with longtime director WILL NUNZIATA and her magnificent Musical Director, Mathis Picard, on an evening that is rather like a hand at poker, with White being the Wild Card in the deck.  There isn’t really a theme (which is actually kind of refreshing), and it isn’t really a memoir show, though there are reminiscences and stories about both her life and her career, only non-linear, like a scavenger hunt or advent calendar.  It’s really just The Lillias White Show, with Lillias (seemingly) tangentially touching on the moments that have mattered, but everyone in the know will tell you that spontaneity of this nature requires planning and rehearsal, so, clearly, White and co. have mapped it out this way, probably because that is how her mind works, and probably how she prefers it to work.   She belts her way through songs like “Don’t Rain on My Parade” and “The Best Is Yet To Come,” sometimes applying tales waiting to be told, and others, simply singing the songs she wants to sing.  Whatever the case may be, it is equally as entertaining listening to the oratory portions of the evening, as it is the musical - the monologue that precedes a breathtaking “Be A Lion” is a particularly effective moment of storytelling.   White conducts kind of mini Q&As with members of the audience about where they grew up, opening up the stage to her own tales of her childhood, her Grandmother, her Auntie, her Uncle, her teachers, her colleagues.  With simultaneously structured script and extemporaneous explanations (and belly laughs galore), she puts her blissfully captive (and captivated) audience in so many pictures of her life as to create a musical gallery.  There’s a kind of brilliance around her ability to create an amalgam of musical storytelling and stand-up comedy.  This is why people go to a Lillias White show, why they love her and follow her any and everywhere. 

The other reason people go to Lillias White shows is the music, and, holy wow, what music.  Known for her big voice and belting, Lillias does not disappoint: there is plenty of big-voice here, but she and Picard have peppered the show with some bluesy Bergman (“He Was Cool”), some hot, hot, hot Hoagy Carmichael (evening highlight “Bread and Gravy”), some right proper jazz (evening highlight “I Wanna Be Loved” from Dinah Was), and some quintessential Queen (“You’re My Best Friend”).  Indeed, the Queen track was a spur-of-the-moment decision (“We’re changing the menu!”) between White and Picard, who, more than once during the show, took a pause for a private powwow at the keys (“Talk amongst yourselves!”), proving the depth of their artistic collaboration and understanding of one another.  Future audiences might be advised to, occasionally, take their eyes off of White to look at Picard and see how closely he watches her, while in the dual act of providing accompaniment and protecting his headliner.  The patent adoration he has for her plays all over his face, as well as his admiration of an artist who is completely and totally unique.  (It has to be said, a Mathis Picard solo show should be developed, so excellent is his artistry at the keys, especially on evening highlight "Shulie-a-Bop.)  The Queen number was not, in fact, the only on-the-spot pop-up in the programming.  There was a real-time reminiscence about stalkers, and there was a sudden performance from William Finn’s Romance In Hard Times, when White spotted a cast member from that show in the audience, after requesting house lights from the booth.   The White roller coaster is a ride that all can enjoy, and the March 6th audience was no exception.  “I want you to feel better when you leave here tonight than when you came in.”  The people certainly did.

Lillias, Will, and Mathis have a good thing on their hands with their new show, and The Beechman has a good thing going with their diva series.  Each of the ladies playing residencies for the next few months has a show and an aesthetic that are extremely authentic to them.  This writer and cabaret devotee has had a chance to see Andrea McArdle (read the review HERE), Donna McKechnie (see that review HERE), and, now, Lillias White (I hope to catch Lorna Luft next, fingers crossed), and these shows are essential New York City cabaret.  These are our Ladies, guys.  They are our divas, they are our treasures, they are the threads in the tapestry that is American Musical Theater.  We owe it to ourselves to see them in person, and we owe it to them to show our appreciation through our industry and applause.   These opportunities don’t come along every day, so they must be grabbed when they do.  Thank goodness for The Laurie Beechman and The D’angoras for creating these diva residencies for us and for them.  I could not, more wholeheartedly, encourage (urge) everyone to get onto the Beechman website (HERE) and make reservations for these monthly shows.   Joy awaits, and, in the case of the Lillias White Show, laughter, levity, and life.  Indeed, THE Life.

Lillias White Live At The Beechman plays every month ( April 3, May 1, June 5).  Ticket information accessible HERE.

Lillias White has a website HERE.

Mathis Picard's website is HERE.

Visit the WILL NUNZIATA website HERE.

Photos by Stephen Mosher