Review: SOMETHING WONDERFUL: BROADWAY'S LEADING LADIES at Signature Theatre

Cabarets are always a bit of a crap shoot depending on the performer’s theme and choice of material. Signature Theatre’s current cabaret offering is a prime example of what happens when the performer and the material are in perfect sync. Take the immeasurable talents of Tracy Lynn Olivera, add a red hot trio of musicians and a song list featuring songs from Broadway and the movies’ golden age and you have what is Something Wonderful: Broadway’s Leading Ladies.

As the title suggests, Ms. Olivera pays a very fitting tribute to some of the most famous leading ladies from Broadway while also giving nods to some lyricists that you might not be aware of by name.

If you are of a certain age, you might remember when Broadway shows had no amplification. There was this thing called projection. Ethel Merman was a prime example of a performer that didn’t need any help being heard on stage. Olivera’s “You Can’t Get A Man With A Gun” from Irving Berlin’s “Annie Get Your Gun” proves that for sure. It should also be noted that Ms. Olivera performed in the last unamplified musical at Signature Theatre. Coincidentally the show was Merrily We Roll Along, which is the company’s current production.

You might remember Ms. Olivera’s killer performance in On The Town at Olney Theatre Center where she played the wisecracking cab driver Hildy Esterhazy. To pay tribute to the role’s original performer Nancy Walker, Olivera takes Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green’s “I Can Cook, Too” into the stratosphere.

Even if you don’t know the name Dorothy Fields, you most likely know many of her songs. One of the most famous is “The Way You Look Tonight” from the movie Swing Time. With Jerome Kern’s melody, Fields’ lyric, and Olivera’s supreme vocal, you totally understand why this song remains a staple of the Great American Songbook.

Backing Olivera is a trio of musicians that superbly play in all styles. They are Lonnell Johnson (Music Director/Piano), Delorean Fullington (Bass), and Keith Butler Jr. (Drums).

Fullington helped turn things a little more serious on Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s “My Funny Valentine” from Babes in Arms. This was achieved by Olivera standing in the crook of the piano and Fullington playing the bass with his bow. Chris Stull’s moody lighting for this song also helps with the seriousness of the moment. Those little subtleties plus Olivera’s haunting vocal at the forefront makes for a lasting moment.

Marni Nixon is probably known as the greatest ghost singer in movie musical history. Three of her most famous dubs were for Natalie Wood in West Side Story, Deborah Kerr in The King and I and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady. Olivera pays tribute to the person behind the voice with a medley of “I Feel Pretty”, “Hello, Young Lovers”, and “I Could Have Danced All Night.” The trio of songs show off Olivera’s sterling soprano.

Barbara Cook was by far one of the biggest treasures to have graced any stage. To end the evening Olivera’s performs Meredith Wilson’s “My White Knight” from The Music Man. Very fittingly she performs it unamplified as Cook use to do with a song at the end of her concerts.

Tracy Lynn Olivera is one of those performers that no matter how many times you see her on stage; you are dumbstruck by what you are witnessing. You owe it to yourself to see Something Wonderful: Broadway’s Leading Ladies before it ends this Sunday. This cabaret lives up to its name and Olivera as backed by Johnson, Fullington, and Butler punctuate this with every song.

Running Time: 70 minutes with no intermission

Something Wonderful: Broadway’s Leading Ladies plays through September 20, 2026, in the ARK at Signature Theatre, which is located at 4200 Campbell Ave. in Arlington, VA.

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