Review: SAILING: YACHT ROCK at Signature

“By the way,” the woman across the cabaret table at Signature Theatre asked, “Does anyone know what Yacht Rock is?”

She had her own ideas. “I thought it might be sea chanteys.”

Clearly, the cast of the new revue “Sailing: Yacht Rock” had their work cut out for them.

Most of those attending, however, seemed to know that the term refers generally to a group of soft rock hits of the early 1970s, with slickly produced, often bland air of California-based smoothness that was as popular with audiences as they were reviled by critics.

Branding it Yacht Rock decades after its heyday was always meant to poke fun at it — the term itself can be traced to an internet comedy show. Yet with distance, a kind of nostalgic affection blends with acceptance of the silliness of many of its tunes, which often came with annoyingly catchy melodies.

The Signature cabaret succeeds because it gets the irony. Even while they play up the captain’s hats, cold drinks and ocean sunsets that help frame the genre, they realize the era’s hits can be at once catchy and silly — a good mix for a summer night of entertainment.

Tracy Lynn Olivera and Deimoni Brewington — she in a flowing print, he in a baby blue Miami Vice linen suit over a burgundy T-shirt — trade off songs and often perform them together, creating a nice harmony in front of a talented band that tackles the burden of replicating the big studio sound of the 70s.

Olivera was the standout talent, finding a sweet spot in songs like Ambrosia’s “Biggest Part of Me” and providing funny chatter throughout. 

Brewington was a pleasant presence, but often didn’t match the material — he went to a falsetto when taking on the more soulful depths of Michael McDonald, the dominant voice the field. And he was shown up so completely when drummer Danté Pope took vocals on Bobby Caldwell’s “What You Won’t Do for Love,” you thought maybe they should trade places.

Still, the performers largely nailed the sound and vibe of the glossy pop. 

It was apparent from the opening “What a Fool Believes” they were able to approximate the calliope-synthesizer sound of the hit McDonald co-wrote and sang for the Doobie Brothers. 

McDonald’s omnipresence in Yacht Rock was played up in the show as they pulled up a mask of his bearded visage every time his part came up in a song — at one point the audience was asked to imitate it in the backing of Christopher Cross’ “Ride Like the Wind.” (“Such a long way to go!”)

Olivera was right to point out the absurdity of that song - about a guy escaping a mass murder. She’d also stop to analyze the unlikely scenario in Rupert Holmes’ “Escape (The Pina Colada Song)” in which partners who each seek to cheat only mildly react when their classified ad inquiries (“the 1983 equivalent of Tinder”) led to each other.

They were weirded out a bit by Steely Dan’s “Hey Nineteen,” as if just realizing the age difference in the song. And things were so much worse in Benny Mardones’ “Into the Night,” they shut it down after the first line —“She’s just 16 years old, leave her alone, they said…”

Recognizing the lack of horns in their band they turned to kazoos to briefly play one phrase from Gerry Rafferty’s saxophone instrumental “Baker Street.” And Olivera pointed out the geographic gaffes the band Toto extolling a continent they’ve never visited in “Africa,” where “Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti.”

As the singers had fun, the peerless band kept things sharp, with the groove of bassist Jason Wilson, the sting of guitarist Perry Cowdery on a few solos (though he’s surely too young to remember these songs firsthand). 

Once more in a Signature cabaret, most of the fine piano work of musical director Lonell Johnson was mixed way too low (or maybe not amplified at all).

The question of what to include in such a revue is always up for debate. Looking Glass’ “Brandy” was probably chosen for its nautical theme more than how it fit with the other songs. And Brenda Russell’s “Lucky,” a hit in nobody’s book, was an outlier but likely included because as Olivera pointed out, she would be the only woman and person of color in a field of sensitive white dudes. 

The generous show could have logically ended with Orleans’ “Still the One” but went on to close with the more literal “This is It” from Kenny Loggins. And they stuck around for more Loggins for an encore with “Whenever I Call You ‘Friend,” the rare Yacht Rock entry actually conceived as a male-female duet (written with Melissa Manchester, Loggins recorded it with Stevie Nicks).

Signature has already announced its roster of cabaret plans for next season with Black Broadway, Nina Simone and classic funk (sorry, no Ozzy salute).

But it will be hard to match the lighthearted breeziness of this one. 

Running time: About 75 minutes, with no intermission. 

Photo: Deimoni Brewington in "Sailing: Yacht Rock" at Signature Theatre, from promotional video.

“Sailing: Yacht Rock,” a cabaret revue, continues through Aug. 10 at Signature Theatre. 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington, VA. Tickets available online.