RECAP
PHOTOS
REVIEWS
SONGS
& PERFORMERS LIST
IT
MIGHT AS WELL BE SPRING: A CONCERT RECAP by
Todd
Brandt of Stirred Straight Up
Last
night, we had the good fortune to attend an absolutely fantastic tribute show
to Margaret Whiting at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall. It was such a
wonderful, lengthy program, with so many excellent performances, that we shall
keep it to bullet points about each performer -- and, again, we must stress that
the entire program was simply superb. We were stunned by how beautifully it was
cast and programmed; not one clinker in the bunch, which, as some of you may
know, is definitely not the norm for most benefit/tribute shows.
Margaret's daughter (and the evening's co-host) Debbi Whiting, the
brilliant musical director Tex Arnold, along
with John Fricke, KT Sullivan, Rick Meadows
and Jason Martin who were instrumental
in putting the nuts and bolts of this show together must be praised to
the skies for their efforts.
Hubert
"Tex" Arnold: The musical director of this glorious occasion, and a longtime
accompanist to Margaret Whiting, Mr. Arnold provided the perfect tone and
setting for this event. His is a truly elegant, musical style which can only
enhance the performers for whom he is playing.
Carole
J. Bufford: We caught a glimpse of Ms. Bufford's act a few years back at The
Metropolitan Room, and it was clear then that she had a lot going for her: a
big, lustrous voice; expressive stage technique; and an elegant, glamorous
persona. All of these qualities have culminated in full flower, and she was a
commanding, stylish presence. Her full-bodied renditions of "It Might as Well Be
Spring" and "Any Place I Hang My Hat is Home" were heartily appreciated by the
audience, as were Ms. Bufford's eye-catching four costume changes, all
stunning.
Jim
Caruso and Billy Stritch: These two gentlemen are such masters of
their crafts, and watching them perform together is sheer joy. Duetting on a
medley of two of Margaret's later hits, which began with a lovely "Far Away
Places" and wound up with a hot, swingin' rendition of "The Gypsy in My Soul,"
Jim and Billy took their respective turns in the spotlight (Billy singing and
playing on the piano, Jim ever the effortlessly stylish and dapper showman), but
really dazzled the audience with their harmonies. We only wish they had
performed one or two more songs. (Oh, and memo to Billy: we loved
your Maggie Isn't Margaret Anymore line -- and next time, I think you
should end the medley with a rousing "Winchester Cathedral" or "There's a Kind
of Hush" singalong.)
Mary
Foster Conklin: Besides duetting with Wayne Hosford on a fun
rendition of Margaret's first #1 country hit with Jimmy Wakley ("Slipping
Around"), Ms. Conklin -- of whom we were previously unaware, and who bears a
striking resemblance to Bebe Neuwirth -- also performed a dramatic version of
"Ballad of the Sad Young Men," that (in)famous Fran Landesman dirge which some
contemporary critics call the musical equivalent of "The Boys in the Band." But
some, the fine folk at SSUWAT included, consider it one of the
finest songs of all time, and, frankly, it's nearly as truthful and timely today
as it was in the pre-Stonewall era it was written in. (Margaret, incidentally,
must have been one of THE first vocalists to record it, back in 1960, for
her Past Midnight! album. Aside from one other recording by Anita O'Day a
year later, most singers were either unaware of the song, or leery of its
content, and it didn't begin receiving wider recognition until much later,
post-Stonewall, namely by Roberta Flack and Shirley Bassey.) It was a treat to
hear it performed live, and believe us, darlings, looking around the audience,
quite a few "sad young men [who are] growing old" were wiping away tears after
Ms. Conklin finished.
Natalie Douglas: We have
been privileged to have watched and followed this amazing talent almost from the
very beginning of our time in New York City, twenty years ago. We first heard
Natalie when she was a hard working singing waitress at The Duplex in the
Village and Brandy's on the Upper East Side. Even then, to our callow ears,
we knew that she was destined for much bigger and better things, and her
truckload of awards and rave reviews bear witness to our good taste! We recall,
in those early years, Natalie would, with good humor and finesse, firmly refuse
to honor requests to sing, say, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," which
customers would ask for based solely on the fact that she is a.) black, and b.)
a larger woman. Beyond the vaguely insulting assumption that
she should be singing that song, Natalie's voice is less gospel grit than
crystal clear beauty, yet with dazzling reserves of power. She proved that by
closing the first half of last evening with a stunning, soaring "Can't Help
Lovin' That Man," recorded by Margaret for her classic Sings the Jerome Kern
Song Book album, and of course, introduced by the legendary soprano Helen
Morgan in Show Boat.
Baby
Jane Dexter: Full disclosure, and with all due respect: this cabaret legend
has always left us cold. We found her performances overwrought and her persona
not larger than life, but simply overbearing. It's all a matter of personal
taste -- Ms. Dexter has enough fans, awards, and raving critics to not give a
flying fig about what we think! But last night, Baby Jane absolutely floored us
with a beautiful, deeply felt interpretation of Peter Allen and Carole Bayer
Sager's "I'd Rather Leave While I'm in Love." Like Margaret did, Dexter manages
to cut through the inherent 1970's pop schlock of the material, and find
surprising nuances and hidden, penetrating truths in lyrics which, in other
hands, could merely come across as cheap sentiment. It was a lovely, lovely
performance. Dexter, whose vocal range and physical mobility have both been
severely limited in recent years by ill health, seemed to have to rely more on
interpretive skill than primal roaring (which is how we can only describe how we
felt about earlier performances we'd seen), and the effect was spellbindingly
effective.
Eric
Comstock: A throwback to the nonchalant elegance of a Fred Astaire, Mr.
Comstock's sprightly piano-and-vocal performance of "You Couldn't Be Cuter" led
to one of the cutest moments of the evening: as he played and sang, we noticed
the quite elderly lady sitting a row ahead of us suddenly come alive, bouncing
her head to the music and singing along word for word. It, and Mr. Comstock's
performance, was utterly delightful.
Barbara
Fasano: One of Margaret Whiting's signature hits is the lovely "Moonlight in
Vermont," which we never noticed, until Ms. Fasano pointed it out in her
introduction, doesn't contain one single rhyming lyric! Yet it's so perfectly
constructed, it sounds as if it does, and Ms. Fasano's elegant, precise
phrasing made the most of those beautiful lyrics. She was also joined by Eric
Comstack for a wonderful, jaunty duet of "Ain't We Got Fun?"
Lauren
Fox: One of the hallmarks of Margaret Whiting's career was versatility; and
her inroads into the world of country music were not only commercially
successful, but also wholly credible: unlike many pop stars who attempted to
conquer that field, Whiting both gained the respect of the tough-to-crack
Nashville old guard, and introduced her more mainstream audience to the likes of
Hank Williams. Tall, cool, and serene, Ms. Fox performed a wistful rendition of
Williams' "I Can't Help It (if I'm Still in Love with You)" with an affecting
fragility.
John
Fricke and K.T. Sullivan: Many Judy Garland fans know of Mr.
Fricke as one of the Garland historians par excellence. What we sure as
hell didn't know was that he can also sing! Fricke and co-hostess Sullivan did a
charming duet version of a show-stopping medley Margaret would perform in her
club act, comprised of the hit songs that her father, Richard Whiting, had
written. Beginning with "Till We Meet Again," winding up with a rousing "Beyond
the Blue Horizon," and packing in "Breezin' Along with the Breeze," "On the Good
Ship Lollipop," and "Too Marvelous for Words" in between, the enthusiastic,
boyishly wide-eyed Fricke seemed almost awe struck at sharing the Carnegie stage
with the celebrated cabaret vet Sullivan (whose madcap, 1930's persona was in
delightfully full throttle all evening), yet held his own admirably. Fun, fun,
fun.
Eric
Yves Garcia: This ridiculously beautiful man could probably just stand still
on a stage without singing or playing a note, and people would still pay
admission to see him. But he's talented, too, gosh darn it, which really means
that life is terribly, terribly unfair. Garcia sang a wistful ballad
from Rupert Holmes' musical, The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Mr.
Holmes was in the audience, and introduced Garcia after a very sweet anecdote
about how Margaret "discovered" him), "The People You Don't Get to Love," with
an oh-so-slight world-weary rasp in his voice which suggested a young man
beginning his trek down the path of the Sinatra of In the Wee Small
Hours, No One Cares, Sings for Only the Lonely, etc. Picking
up the tempo and the mood, Garcia then took to the keys to accompany himself on
a sprightly, delightful "You'd Better Love Me" from the musical High
Spirits. Did we mention that he's beautiful?
Terese
Genecco and Shaynee Rainbolt: Unlike many of her contemporaries,
Margaret Whiting somehow escaped the fate of being inextricably tied to an
inexplicably popular novelty song: there was pop fluff in her catalog, to be
sure, but she didn't have to gamely give her public a concert version of
"C'mon-a My House," "How Much is That Doggie in the Window," or "The Rock and
Roll Waltz" against her will and better judgement. So it was that the one
"comedy" number in the last night's repertoire was of the high order of Frank
Loesser's "Baby, it's Cold Outside," which Margaret made into a standard with
the aid of Johnny Mercer, moonlighting from his day job as lyricist
extraordinaire. Terese Genecco and Shaynee Rainbolt performed it to comic
perfection, giving it a winking, thoroughly modern twist.
Heather
Mac Rae: We're ashamed to admit that we had no idea that the daughter of
Gordon and Sheila MacRae was still an active performer. Thus, we had no idea
what to expect, especially since the warm, motherly-looking person who took to
the stage was in such contrast to the be-gowned, be-jeweled women who had
preceded her. Then Heather opened her mouth, and out poured a heartbreakingly
beautiful "My Favorite Year," which left much of the audience (and our
hostesses) awash in tears. We need to find out more about this lady, and when
and if she's performing again. She was that good.
Marilyn Maye: Really, what
more can we say, that we haven't already said about the one and only Miss Maye?
The Great Lady came, she saw, she paid tribute to Margaret, she conquered
Carnegie -- again. The last time she played there, it was to honor Stephen
Sondheim on his 80th birthday, and she drew a standing ovation for her "I'm
Still Here." And last night, MMM (marvelous Marilyn Maye) earned yet another
standing ovation -- the only one for a single performer -- for her three-song
set of Johnny Mercer songs, "Drinking Again," "One for My Baby (and One More for
the Road)" and "Blues in the Night." The level of professionalism, charisma, and
complete mastery of the stage and her craft which La Maye displays simply leaves
nearly everyone else in the dust. Introducing Maye to the stage, daughter Debbi
Whiting mentioned that Margaret's last public outing was to see Marilyn perform
at The Metropolitan Room. We were there that night; prior to the show, we had
dinner next door to the Metropolitan, and Margaret and her party were seated
next to us. She looked glamorous and beautiful, but obviously very, very frail.
We were also seated next to her party at the Metropolitan; and when Marilyn
introduced Margaret to the audience, the place exploded. And when Marilyn had us
all join in a singalong of "Hello, Maggie" to the tune of "Hello, Dolly,"
Margaret just lit up and beamed. It was one of our most unforgettable
experiences.
Tanya Moberly: One of the
finest songs in the latter-day cabaret canon is Francesa Blumenthal's
devastating "The Lies of Handsome Men," of which Margaret quipped, "Honey,
that's my life." Ms. Moberly began the song with a wryly comic,
self-deprecating air, which had turned to eviscerating regret by the song's end.
It was a wrenching, touching performance.
Marissa
Mulder: A gorgeous redhead poured into a slinky gown, Ms. Mulder was the
essence of 1940's glamour when she opened the program with an unfettered,
beautifully shaped performance of "My Ideal," Margaret's first hit at Capitol
when she was but a teenager. In spite of her sophisticated looks, Ms. Mulder
still perfectly captured the youthful longing -- perhaps still lingering in all
of us, regardless of age -- in those lyrics, which had been penned by Leo Robin
to a melody by Margaret's father, Richard.
Karen
Oberlin: Looking resplendent in a glittering gold gown, Ms. Oberlin came
out, sang simply, and simply stunned. Nothing more was needed. Jerome Kern's
"Remind Me" is one of our all time favorite songs, and this interpretation was
just perfect. No frills, no excess, no unnecessary drama: just a pitch perfect,
wonderfully phrased, beautifully executed performance of a masterful example of
the Great American Songbook -- which, really, is the essence of Margaret
Whiting.
Stacy
Sullivan: Proving that talent and taste are genetic, K.T. Sullivan's sister,
Stacy, gave us an excellent medley of Harold Arlen's "That Old Black Magic"
ingeniously interspersed with Rodgers and Hart's "Lover." Her sexy, sultry,
swinging, cool-hot performance called to mind the best of Margaret's former
Capitol label mate, Miss Peggy Lee -- which shouldn't be a surprise, as Ms.
Sullivan's tribute to Lee has received multiple awards and accolades.
Carol
Woods: This Broadway vet (currently treading the boards as Matron "Mama"
Morton in the long-running revival of Chicago) brought flair and sass to
the devil-may-care lyrics of John Meyer's "I'd Like to Hate Myself in the
Morning" -- a gin-soaked anthem originally written for, and performed to a
fare-the-well, by Judy Garland in the last years of her life. It also was a
wonderful summation of the glamorous, larger-than-life Margaret of the 1970's
and 1980's, painting Manhattan all shades of vermillion into the night. Ms.
Woods capped the evening with a magnificent "Come Rain or Come Shine" by those
maestros, Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer.
Saadi Zain: Besides the
brilliant accompaniment and direction of Tex Arnold, special mention should go
to Mr. Zain on bass, who made Carnegie Hall's stately, refined Weill Recital
Hall swing.
Debbi
Whiting: Beyond being Margaret Whiting's daughter, we had no clue what to
expect from Debbi co-hosting this evening. Frankly, we thought that K.T.
Sullivan would do most of the heavy lifting from both a hostessing and
performing standpoint. Au contraire! Debbi was witty, funny, and a most
engaging hostess, plus she performed a very, very fun tribute to
Margaret's time with the legendary 4 Girls 4. Gamely slapping a huge black bow
on her head, Debbi was "Rose Marie"; Heather MacRae was "Rosemary
Clooney"; Lauren Fox was "Helen O'Connell"; and glamorous,
big-voiced Carole Bufford (who managed to squeeze in four gown changes
into the course of the evening) was "Margaret Whiting." Debbi and K.T. really
kept the proceedings going at a brisk pace, and peppered the entire evening with
humor and high spirits. The one unabashedly tearjerking moment, though, was when
Debbi spoke movingly of her mother's final days, and how it brought Margaret
such happiness when she learned that her recording of "Time After Time" had been
used in the hit film, Julie & Julia. After that, Debbi recounted,
her mother would watch the film over and over again on DVD, always asking to see
"the pancake lady" one more time. The final time they watched the film together,
and her glorious voice once again came through the speakers, Margaret turned to
her daughter and said, "Somebody really likes me!"
They still do.
They LOVE Margaret Whiting, and the feeling was palpable all evening. It
was evident, not only in the joy these performers obviously took in being there
and paying tribute to a lovely woman and a tremendous singer, but also in the
extreme care which was obviously taken to mount a respectful, but also hugely
entertaining, evening of song. It was just brilliant, and we are so grateful
that we were able to attend.
PHOTOS
REVIEWS
Broadway
World
by Stephen Hanks
Woman
Around Town
by Alix Cohen
Theater
Scene
by Linda Amiel Burns
Theater
Pizzazz
by Mari Lyn Henry
A
Celebration in Song by Gregg
Culling
SONGS
& PERFORMERS LIST
4
Girls 4 (Johnny
Meyer/Tom Hatten) - Bufford/Fox/MacRae/Whiting
Ain’t
We Got Fun (Richard
Whiting/Gus Kahn/Ray Egan)
- Eric Comstock / Barbara
Fasano
Anyplace
I Hang My Hat (Harold
Arlen/Johnny Mercer) - Carole
J. Bufford
Baby,
It’s Cold Outside
(Frank Loesser) - Terese
Genneco / Shaynee Rainbolt
Ballad
of The Sad Young Men
(Tommy Wolf/Fran Landesman)
- Mary Foster Conklin
Blues
In The Night (Harold
Arlen/Johnny Mercer) - Marilyn
Maye
Can’t
Help It (If I’m Still In
Love With You) (Hank
Williams) - Lauren Fox
Can’t
Help Lovin’ That Man of
Mine (Jerome Kern/Oscar
Hammerstein II) - Natalie
Douglas
Come
Rain or Come Shine
(Harold Arlen/Johnny Mercer)
- Carol Woods
Gypsy
In My Soul (Clay
Boland/Moe Jaffe) - Jim
Caruso / Billy Stritch
(I’d
Like to)Hate Myself in The
Morning (John Meyer)
- Carol Woods
I’d
Rather Leave While I’m In
Love (Peter Allen/Carole
Bayer Sager) - Baby Jane
Dexter
It
Might As Well Be Spring
(Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein
II) - Carole J. Bufford
Lies
of Handsome Men
(Francesca Blumenthal) -
Tanya Moberly
Moonlight
In Vermont (Karl
Suessdorf/John Blackburn)
- Barbara Fasano
My
Favorite Year (Michele
Brourman/Karen Gottlieb)
- Heather MacRae
My
Ideal (Richard Whiting/Newell
Chase/Leo Robin) - Marissa
Mulder
Nothin’
Like It (Johnny
Meyer) - Natalie Douglas
One
For My Baby (Harold
Arlen/Johnny Mercer) - Marilyn
Maye
The
People That You Never Get
To Love (Rupert
Holmes) - Eric Yves Garcia
Remind
Me (Jerome Kern/Dorothy
Fields) - Karen Oberlin
Slippin’
Around (Floyd Tilman)
- Wayne Hosford / Mary Foster
Conklin
Songs
My Father Taught Me
(Richard Whiting Medley)
- K. T. Sullivan / John
Fricke
Till
We Meet Again (Raymond
Egan) / Breezin’
Along With The Breeze
(Haven Gillespie/Seymour
Simon) / Louise
(Leo Robin) / On
The Good Ship Lollipop
(Sidney Claire) / Too
Marvelous For Words
(Johnny Mercer) / Hooray
For Hollywood (Johnny
Mercer) / Beyond
The Blue Horizon
(W. Franke Harling/Leo
Robin)
That
Old Black Magic
(Harold Arlen/Johnny Mercer)
- Stacy Sullivan
Time
After Time (Julie
Styne/Sammy Cahn) - Marissa
Mulder
You
Better Love Me While You
May (Hugh Martin/Timothy
Gray) - Eric Yves Garcia
You
Couldn’t Be Cuter
(Jerome Kern/Dorothy Fields)
- Eric Comstock
|