| Adding
a Bit of Merman to Russian Romanticism
October 27, 2004
By Stephen Holden
The New York Times
For me, all musical comedy roads lead
to Ethel Merman," Klea Blackhurst declares late in her
show "Autumn in New York: Vernon Duke's Broadway."
Ms. Blackhurst makes good on that comparison the moment she
opens her mouth and unleashes a bright, brassy rallying cry
that fills Opia, the Midtown cabaret where she's now appearing.
This is a voice that's not a cloned impression but a stylistic
relative of Merman's, with its own personality. Assuming that
Ms. Blackhurst can act, she needs a Broadway theater as desperately
as Kristin Chenoweth, so that she can flex her talent. Ms.
Blackhurst, who comes from Salt Lake City, effuses optimism
and verve without a trace of Pollyanna-like cuteness. Her
get-up-and-go singing is the equivalent of strong, home-brewed
coffee without sugar or cream.
But what special simpatico might a Merman acolyte share with
Vernon Duke, the Russian-born (as Vladimir Dukelsky), classically
trained composer whose best-known songs, "April in Paris"
and "Autumn in New York," are steeped in romantic
angst? Ms. Blackhurst doesn't fully answer that question,
but her can-do spunk, buttressed by the light swing arrangements
of the Pocket Change Trio (Michael Rice on piano, Ray Kilday
on bass, and David Strauss on guitar and banjo), infuse Duke's
songs with oxygen.
In her research, Ms. Blackhurst learned that Duke discovered
American pop at 17 on hearing "Swanee." He then
pursued a dual career as a Broadway and classical composer,
in simultaneous touch with George Gershwin (his Broadway mentor)
and Prokofiev.
Merman's and Duke's paths crossed briefly in 1944 in the flop
musical "Sadie Thompson," from which she withdrew
after five days of rehearsals. (June Havoc took over.) Duke
never wrote a hit show. ("Cabin in the Sky," in
1940, came closest.) It wasn't for lack of talent, Ms. Blackhurst
says, but only because Duke "was dogged with supernatural
bad luck."
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