| Klea
Blackhurst's San Francisco autumn
She stars in 'Red, Hot and Blue'
for 42nd St. Moon
October 11, 2005
By Jim Van Buskirk
Bay Area Reporter
It seemed more like autumn in New York
than summer in San Francisco on the morning I met with Klea
Blackhurst. Actually, the weather was appropriate, as Blackhurst
has just released a new CD, Autumn in New York: Vernon
Duke's Broadway, songs from her latest one-woman show,
which recently played two sold-out evenings at Joe's Pub in
Manhattan. Best-known for her tribute to Ethel Merman Everything
the Traffic Will Allow, the effervescent Blackhurst was
as surprised as anyone that her next project would include
so many ballads.
The vivacious redhead, a self-proclaimed "boom-chuck"
girl, explains that she's more comfortable with up-tempo numbers,
but listeners of the new album would never know this by hearing
how respectfully she caresses these carefully chosen Duke
standards and rarities. In the course of her research, Blackhurst
discovered that Merman was briefly slated to star in Duke's
musical Sadie Thompson, beating out Marlene Dietrich
and Ginger Rogers for the role. She found it amusing that
Merman, who appeared in an unprecedented string of hits, was
briefly connected with Duke, who had nothing but flops. "April
in Paris," "Autumn in New York," and "I
Can't Get Started" are all familiar standards, but few
people know that they all came from unsuccessful Broadway
shows. Most reviews of Duke's 1932 show Walk a Little
Faster didn't even mention "April in Paris."
Blackhurst is equally excited to be able to reintroduce some
of Duke's forgotten gems. Many of these were suggested by
Bob Grimes, the San Francisco sheet music collector, a nationally
renowned expert on music from the first half of the 20th-century.
While developing her show, she spent time with Grimes, marveling
as he pulled title after title of sheet music from the archives
filling his downtown apartment. She dedicates the album to
Grimes, saying, "without the enthusiastic sharing of
his knowledge, there would simply be no album."
Blackhurst considers herself "a musical-theatre historian
who brings things to life by performing them." I could
have listened all morning to her fascinating anecdotes about
Duke, whose Broadway career was dogged by bad luck, rotten
timing, and ailing or difficult stars. But she reminded me
that we haven't talked at all about the reason she's in San
Francisco. She's just started rehearsal for 42nd Street Moon's
production of Cole Porter's Red, Hot and Blue , which
opens September 22. Despite a score that boasts such standards
as "Down in the Depths," "Ridin' High"
and "It's De-lovely," the show has rarely been revived.
"I think the book is very funny," Blackhurst said.
"But it's obvious the lines were written specifically
for the original stars. I can just hear Merman, Jimmy Durante
and Bob Hope's voices when I read the script." She has
done several benefits for 42nd Street Moon, and is excited
to be working on Red, Hot and Blue. "I'm
pleased they asked me to do it. I mean, I think I'm the obvious
choice for this role, and I applaud them for thinking so,
too."
PET SOUNDS
Her love of performing may be genetic. Growing up in Salt
Lake City, she obsessively memorized lyrics from original-cast
albums. She was influenced, no doubt, by her mom, Winkie Tedesco
Horman, who performed with the USO and in summer stock. Winkie
once appeared with musical veteran Betty Garrett in a production
of Bells Are Ringing. When Blackhurst read in Garrett's
autobiography that her pet parakeet's name was Winkie, she
wondered whether it was only a coincidence.
Having performed roles in Oil City-Symphony, Radio Girls
and Buffalo Gals, Blackhurst recently made her Carnegie
Hall debut with Michael Feinstein's Everything's Coming
Up Roses: Celebrating the Songs of Jule Styne. But at
a recent family gathering, she found her appearance in a Kellogg's
Mini-Wheats commercial most impressed her relatives. Blackhurst
listed her criteria for accepting work as prestige, personal
satisfaction, and money. "The project has to include
two out of the three." She hesitated for effect. "Or
at least one." The commercial she did for the money (although
she does, in fact, eat Mini-Wheats). She's doing Red,
Hot and Blue for the P's.
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