Cabaret Review: Deano's back and Dean's got him

When I reviewed Dean Christopher’s Dean Martin tribute show, “Everybody Loves Somebody Some Time,” at the Blue Strawberry last March, I described it as “rock-solid entertainment.” Christopher brought it back to the Strawberry last Friday (September 24th) and, after seeing it again, I’m of no mind to change that assessment.

Dean Christopher as Dean Martin sings "Houston"
Photo by Chuck Lavazzi

The show was, for one thing, largely unchanged from last year. With one notable exception (see below) the song list was exactly the same. Christopher still has Martin's vocal quality and loose-limbed drunk act down pat. Pianist and music director Joe Dreyer is still the perfect musical and comic foil in his role as Kermit "Ken" Lane, who was the real Martin's pianist and music director on "The Dean Martin Show"—a fact which will surprise nobody who has seen Joe’s own cabaret act with his wife Rosemary.

In short, everything about “Everybody Loves Somebody Some Time” that made it so much fun last March was still true this past Friday. So rather than repeat all praise I heaped on it back then, I’ll just refer you back to that original review. Same songs, same great fun.

Instead, let’s talk about what was different, focusing on that addition to the song list. The response from the audience, many of whom were clearly regular followers of Christopher’s show, was enthusiastic as usual—so much so, in this case, that Christopher broke with tradition by performing an actual encore.

And not just any encore. It was the 1967 Bob Thiele (a.k.a. “George Douglas“ and George David Weiss hit “What a Wonderful World.” Unlike the rest of numbers in the evening, “What a Wonderful World” was never recorded by Dean Martin.  But it was an international hit for Louis Armstrong—the first of the four (count ‘em, four) singers that Christopher impersonated with great success while singing it (the other three were Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and of course, Martin himself).

Dean Christopher and Joe Dreyer
Photo by Chuck Lavazzi

That was impressive enough. What made it even more so was the fact that the encore was entirely unplanned. Dreyer gave Christopher a good key (E-flat) and Christopher just took off with it while Dreyer improvised the accompaniment. Christopher does something similar in his “Rat Pack Christmas" show in which he sings “The Twelve Days of Christmas” as a dozen different Hollywood personalities, but that’s scripted in advance. This was purely off the cuff, which is really rather amazing.

The only fly in the ointment was the wireless body mic the Strawberry had provided, which insisted on dropping in and out at random intervals during the evening. It’s the sort of thing that will throw even the most seasoned performer off his stride and while Christopher coped with it gracefully (and in character, no less), it did cause the energy to drop at times while the sound tech tried, without much success, to fix the problem.

To quote a lyric from one of Martin’s hits, “ain’t that a hole in the boat?” Fortunately, the S.S. Dean Martin Christopher appears to be as unsinkable as Molly Brown and a fine time was had by all.

Dean Christopher returns to St. Louis this November and December at The Sheldon Concert Hall with his not-to-be-missed “Rat Pack” show; see his web site for details.

Cabaret, jazz, and other music events continue at The Blue Strawberry on North Boyle. Currently the club requires proof of vaccination and masking, except when eating or drinking, and tables are spaced far enough apart to inspire confidence. For more information, visit the Blue Strawberry web site.

This article originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

Review: Memories are made of this

When I reviewed Dean Christopher's "Rat-Pack Christmas" show at the Blue Strawberry in December, I called it "90 minutes of rock-solid, raucous entertainment." The Dean Martin tribute show he did at that same venue last night (Friday, March 6) was shorter and less raucous but, yeah, still rock-solid entertainment.

Mr. Christopher is, as I noted back in December, a powerful singer and an amazingly talented impressionist. In that show he captured the stage personas of the core members of the Rat Pack as well as other period celebs, but for me his Dean Martin was the pick of the litter.

Dean Christopher
Photo by Chuck Lavazzi

Mr. Christopher looks nothing like the late singer/actor, but he has Martin's vocal quality and loose-limbed drunk act down pat. It took very little suspension of disbelief to accept him in the role Friday night, and the audience quickly began to respond as though he were Martin in the flesh. That's a neat bit of theatrical prestidigitation.

Mr. Christopher started the show in character, entering from behind the set (a large striped couch and the inevitable drinks table) introducing himself as Dean Martin and his pianist/music director Joe Dreyer as Kermit "Ken" Lane, who was the real Martin's pianist and music director on "The Dean Martin Show." He then quickly dropped out of character to talk about how he became fascinated with Dean Martin as a kid, listening to Martin's songs on the radio and watching his NBC TV show, which ran for nine seasons starting in 1965. "I didn't just like Dean Martin," he said, "I really wanted to BE Dean Martin."

Then he took out his one constant prop (a fake cigarette) and, in the blink of an eye (or swallow of "Jack Daniels" from the drinks table) he did, in fact, become Dean Martin. And credibly stayed that way for the next hour and fifteen minutes.

Dean Christopher and Joe Dreyer
Photo by Chuck Lavazzi

Personally, I always wanted to be Fred Astaire, but I can identify. I'm only a few years older than Mr. Christopher (Small World Department: we even went to the same high school) and I watched that show as religiously as he did. I grew up, after all, in an Italian-American family (my grandma's ravioli was to die for) where it was a weekly ritual. Regardless of what you might think of the rest of the "Rat Pack," I'd say that if you have any fond memories of ol' Deano, this would be your kind of show.

The show is jam-packed with Martin's hits and misses, including a trademark bit from Martin's TV nightclub act in which he'd start a familiar song and then turn it into a parody ("After you've gone / Who'll do the dishes?") in an effort to make his pianist crack up. Equally hilarious was a medley that turned classic tunes into paeans to alcohol ("Every time it rains it rains / Bourbon from heaven").

The hits included everything you'd expect: "Memories Are Made of This" (Martin's first number 1 single), "You Belong to Me" (first recorded in 1952 by Joni James), "Return to Me" (a big hit for him in the USA and Europe in 1968), Lee Hazlewood's "Houston" (the countrified hit from 1965) and, of course, "Everybody Loves Somebody," the theme song of Martin's TV show and the single that knocked The Beatles' "Hard Day's Night" out of the Billboard's #1 slot in 1964. They were all done with impeccable musicianship and in perfect Dean Martin style. An homage rather than a parody.

Dean Christopher and Joe Dreyer do Rio Bravo
Photo by Chuck Lavazzi

There were some audience participation numbers as well, like "That's Amore" and "Volare," both of which gave Mr. Christopher an opportunity to display his ability to work the crowd and ad lib in character (which he did throughout the evening). At one point, for example, he noticed a group at a table off to stage right in what had to be "limited view" seats. He joked with them about having the "cheap seats" and then made a gag out of looking back to the right periodically and asking Mr. Dreyer "are they still there?"

Through all of this, Joe Dreyer was a cheerful and elegant presence at the baby grand. Mr. Dreyer is a familiar figure on the local theatre and cabaret scene and has even done the occasional show himself with his wife, the singer Rosemary Watts-Dreyer. His arrangements were a perfect fit for Mr. Christopher, either as himself or as Martin. His voice blended well with Mr. Christopher's in a re-creation of the scene in the 1959 film "Rio Bravo," in which Martin sang "My Rifle, My Pony, and Me" in harmony with Ricky Nelson.

Judging from the SRO crowd at the Blue Strawberry, this is unlikely to be the last time you'll see Dean Christopher on that stage. When he returns, I'd say early ticket purchases are essential. Meanwhile, for information on upcoming shows at Jim Dolan's classy Blue Strawberry, visit their web site.

This article originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

Theatre Review: "The Rat Pack is Back" at the Fox

L-R: Brian Duprey, Drew Anthony, Kenny Jones, Tom Wallek

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What: The Rat Pack is Back
Where: The Fox Theatre, St. Louis
When: May 15-17, 2015

The Rat Pack is back, and the Fox has got 'em, at least through Sunday. This snappy tribute to the 1960s-era Las Vegas Rat Pack—Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Joey Bishop—is making its first St. Louis appearance, although the original has been playing the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas for fourteen years.

Unlike the "Rat Pack Live at the Sands" shows that played the Fox in 2007 and 2011, "The Rat Pack is Back" is a more bare-bones production. There are no flashy sets or backup singers—just a live, 12-piece big band and most importantly, a solid cast of first-rate performers who move, sound, and (for the most part) look uncannily like the originals.

Which, ultimately, is what a celebrity impersonation revue like this is all about.

The original Rat Pack was, of course, a group of entertainers affiliated with Frank Sinatra. In Las Vegas in 1960 to film the heist movie "Ocean's Eleven," they spent time off the set boozing it up and doing shows at the legendary Sands casino. Their freewheeling combination of comedy, music, and big band jazz caught on and a legend, as they say, was born.

The core of the original Rat Pack consisted of Sinatra, Dean Martin, and the multi-talented Sammy Davis, Jr. Deadpan comic Joey Bishop provided most of the laughs, with British actor Peter Lawford joining in every now and then.

There's no Lawford impersonator in "The Rat Pack is Back" (which may be just as well; he was mostly a hanger-on) but the performers taking on the roles of the other four do a remarkable job of capturing the essences of the originals.

Much of the first half of the show belongs to Tom Wallek as Bishop. He has the comic's "sad sack" look and self-deprecating, ironic style down pat. His routine with its succession of "married couple" jokes may be dated but that, after all, is pretty much the point. References to current events don't work as well, but mostly he's hilariously on point.

The cast with the act two bar cart

Drew Anthony so perfectly captures the sound and panache of Dean Martin that it's easy to suspend disbelief and accept that the famed singer and comic actor has returned from the dead. Whether he's flirting with women in the audience of gliding effortlessly through Martin standards like "Volare" or the Russ Morgan classic "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You," Mr. Anthony just is Dean Martin.

The role of Sammy Davis, Jr. may be the hardest one to pull off, if only because the original was such a legendary performer. A singer, dancer, actor, impressionist and multi-instrumentalist, he was easily the most richly talented member of the Pack. It would be hard for any one performer to do what the original did, but Kenny Jones comes awfully close. He's got the powerful singing voice and, more importantly, he moves with the same fluid grace that the late Mr. Davis did. You can especially see it when he pops on the bowler hat and floats across the stage for "Mr. Bojangles" and in his "Me and My Shadow" duet with Brian Duprey's Frank Sinatra.

Speaking of whom: the pivotal role in any Rat Pack tribute is inevitably Old Blue Eyes himself. Mr. Duprey is something of an expert in that field, having grabbed a $20,000 prize for his impersonation of Sinatra on the "Performing As" TV show. As soon as he opens his mouth, it's obvious why. He may not look much like the 1960s Sinatra, but he sounds so much like him that all other considerations vanish. Like his co-stars, he has the mannerisms and the style of the original down pat, right down to his freewheeling approach to lyrics.

The show's music director and pianist Lon Bronson directs a solid and very polished band of (presumably) local musicians. They can't have had that much rehearsal with the cast, but you wouldn't now it from the quality of the performances.

Brain Duprey

The bottom line on "The Rat Pack is Back" is that if you enjoyed the work Frank, Sammy, Dean, and Joey produced when they were alive, you'll probably be highly entertained by their doppelgangers on stage at the Fox. To quote a lyric from Cahn and Van Husen's "Style", "You've either got or you haven't got class. / How it draws the applause of the masses". These performers have definitely got it.

For those of us old enough to remember what these guys were like in their prime, this is high-grade nostalgia. For everybody else it's a glimpse at a kind of hokey and slightly risqué show-biz magic that is long gone, in a Las Vegas that had not yet become a family-friendly theme park. The show concludes its run at the Fox Theatre in Grand Center on Sunday, May 17. For tickets: fabulousfox.com.

Leaders of the Pack

[This is my review of The Rat Pack Live at the Sands for KDHX-FM in St. Louis]

The theatrical subgenre of celebrity impersonation has always been an odd duck. It's easy to do badly, damned difficult to do well, and gets the impersonator little respect in any case. In fact, duplicating a performer's on-stage persona in a way that will allow audience members to suspend disbelief and react as they would to the original is quite a challenge, especially when the performer in question is well represented on audio and film/video.

All of which brings us to The Rat Pack Live at the Sands. A massive hit in Great Britain for eight years now (where it's know as The Rat Pack Live from Las Vegas), the show takes celebrity impersonation to an entirely new level by reproducing a typical mid-1960s Las Vegas appearance by the ruling triumvirate of the Rat Pack: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr. In order for the show to work, all three impersonations have to get over the disbelief suspension threshold and let us fool ourselves into reacting as we would to the original performers.

Happily for all concerned, the stars of this tour inhabit their roles so well that the resemblance is sometimes a bit eerie. Louis Hoover, a veteran of the London production, sounds so much like the middle-aged Sinatra that I'm not sure I could easily tell the difference with my eyes closed. Even with them open, he looks enough like the original to make that disbelief suspension easy. The same is true for the Sammy Davis, Jr. of David Hayes, who is also a London alumnus. He's got the voice and mannerisms down pat and is a dab hand at tap, even if he is a bit too tall for the role. Not surprisingly, both Hoover and Hayes have their own one-man shows based on impersonations of Sinatra and Davis. To quote Max Bialystok, "when you've got it, flaunt it, baby".

Nigel Casey doesn't sound all that much like the ‘60s-era Dean Martin - his voice is far too bright - but he captures Martin's trademark charm, breezy persona, and carefully choreographed Fake Drunk act to perfection. Of course, I'm something of an easy sell. I always found Martin the most entertaining of the triad. And, yes, Fake Drunk acts look painfully unenlightened these days, but there's no point in doing a show like this if you're going to try to make it conform to contemporary sensibilities.

Supporting the three stars - and contributing substantially to the success of the illusion - are a fifteen-piece big band conducted from the piano by Music Director Andy Rumble and a trio of talented performers billed as The Burelli Sisters (Claire Poyzer, Anna Carmichael, and Lucie Florentine) - a kind of combination Vegas showgirl chorus crossed with The Andrews Sisters. Their jazzy, close-harmony version of "It Don't Mean a Thing" is a highlight of the first act and their dancing enlivens the proceedings throughout the evening.

For those of us with the right set of chromosomes, their sexy costumes don't hurt, either.

That's not to say that the evening is a complete success. The inclusion of "New York, New York" near the end of the first act, complete with faux-Fosse choreography, is a curious anachronism and the closing, post-curtain call performance of "My Way", while it would have been a great moment for the real Sinatra, just seems a bit weird sung by an impersonator - especially when the announcer has just reminded us that we're seeing "Louis Hoover as Frank Sinatra". The (uncredited) announcer's organized crime jokes at the opening of each act also stuck me as a bit forced; maybe they're better in the original British.

Still, the bottom line on The Rat Pack Live at the Sands is that if you enjoy the work Frank, Sammy and Dean produced when they were alive, you'll probably be highly entertained by their doppelgangers on stage at the Fox. As the trio sings in Cahn and Van Husen's "Style" (from the classic Rat Pack film Robin and the Seven Hoods), "You've either got or you haven't got class. / How it draws the applause of the masses". These guys have definitely got it.

Be aware, however, that this is a fairly accurate reproduction of a period Vegas show, so there's plenty of adult humor throughout the evening. No, there aren't any words you can't say on the air, but sex and alcohol jokes are present in abundance, so it's not really a family event.

The Rat Pack Live at the Sands runs through October 14th [2007] at the Fox Theatre, 527 North Grand in Grand Center. Call 314-534-1678 for more information. As theatre it ain't much, but as an entertaining exercise in nostalgia, it's hard to beat.