What: Come Rain or Come Shine
Where: The Kranzberg Center, St. Louis
When: September 8 through 11, 2010
If the opening night crowd for Come Rain or Come Shine was not quite as large as Cabaret St. Louis would have liked, it might have been due to some lukewarm reviews the show got earlier this year in New York. If so, local audiences should have no concern. Come Rain or Come Shine may not be a flawless show, but it's a polished and entertaining one with solid musical and theatrical values that gets the fall Cabaret St. Louis season off to a fine start.
Although this is her first visit to St. Louis, Ms. Purl's face may be familiar to many from her long career in films, stage and—especially—television. A co-star on Matlock and The Office (among others), she has also appeared over forty made for TV movies. Her career in the contemporary version of the B movie industry serves as the basis for one of the comic highlights of the evening, Ron Abel and Kirby Tepper's “Movie of the Week”. I don't know whether the number was written specifically for her or not, but like her slinky blue beaded dress (“never sit on a stool when you're wearing one”, she advises at one point), it's a perfect fit.
A charismatic and engaging performer with a flexible and attractive voice, Ms. Purl presented a show which, while relying heavily on standards such as “The Best is Yet to Come” and “Wouldn't It be Loverly?” (one of many familiar songs given stunning new arrangements by pianist and music director Scott Woolley) also included some newer material. Examples of the latter included the moving Brent Barrett/Maury Yeston collaboration “New Words” and the charming “This Time Tomorrow” from the 2001 Broadway flop The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
Of course, even a hoary standard like “One For My Baby (And One More for the Road)” can sound brand new given an inventive arrangement and a performer with clear intent and solid focus. Mr. Woolley and Ms. Purl provided both. Her reading of the song's final phrase—“that long, long road”—left little doubt about how long and dark that road would be, while his arrangement was appropriately moody and dramatic. Indeed, Mr. Woolley is almost as compelling a performer as Ms. Purl. One of the pleasures of the evening was watching him throw himself into the music.
Other highlights of the evening included a medley of big band era tunes - introduced by Ms. Purl's observation that her parents recently observed their 70th wedding anniversary because they never stopped dancing together—and a duet with St. Louis native Kevin Spirtas. The latter combined a pair of Ira Gershwin trifles (“Oh Me! Oh My!” and “Cheerful Little Earful”) with some solid scat singing. Better yet, Mr. Spirtas took the stage afterwards for a beautiful rendition of Peter Allen's “Love Don't Need a Reason” that was an ideal example of how to clearly convey the meaning of a lyric.
That said, the evening was not without its lowlights—most of which, I think, could have been avoided had Ms. Purl and Mr. Woolley engaged the services of a director. Cabaret is, after all, a form of theatre and good director is essential for good theatre. A director, for example, might have pointed out that the evening was just a song too long and that at times Ms. Purl didn’t seem to be fully invested in the lyrics or relied too heavily on stock theatrical gestures. He or she might also have suggested that the medley of some of the favorite oddball country songs of Ms. Purl’s Matlock co-star Andy Griffith did not need to be delivered in cheesy “hick” accents. He or she might also have suggested the medley of some of the favorite oddball country songs of Ms. Purl's Matlock co-star Andy Griffith did not need to be delivered in cheesy “hick” accents. On Minnie Pearl that sort of thing sounds authentic; on Linda Purl it just sounds condescending. Besides, a song like David Frizzel's Grammy-nominated “I'm Gonna Hire a Wino to Decorate Our Home” is pretty caustically funny on its own; it doesn't need shtick.
These are, however, minor complaints. The bottom line is that Come Rain or Come Shine presents a trio of talented performers at, for the most part, their very best. It's a great beginning for what promises to be a very interesting fall season at Cabaret St. Louis. The show runs through Saturday, September 11, at the Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information, you may call 314-534-1111 or visit the web site: cabaretstl.org.
Next in the Cabaret St. Louis lineup: Brian Lane Green, Lee Lessack and Johnny Rogers in Three Men and a Baby…Grand!—A Tribute to the Rat Pack (there seems to be a lot of that about these days). Performances are Wednesday through Saturday, October 13 through 16. Between now and then, the Kranzberg will host local talent under the Presenters Dolan umbrella with a show by the husband and wife team of Joe Dreyer and Rosemary Watts on September 30 and October 1 and a Peggy Lee tribute by Barbara Helmer on October 2 and 3. For information on those shows, you may call 314-725-4200 or visit licketytix.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment