| Autumn
in New York: Vernon Duke's Broadway Review
November 4, 2004
By J. Frank
Talkin' Broadway.com
If you like to see cabaret shows that
educate as well as entertain, have I got a show for you. If
you like performers with incredible voices who are equally
adept at raising the roof as they are singing a child to sleep,
have I got a girl for you. And lucky for you, both can be
found at Opia, a newly opened gem of a club on the East Side.
The show is called Autumn in New York: Vernon Duke's Broadway
and the performer is Klea Blackhurst, whose tribute to Ethel
Merman, Everything the Traffic Will Allow had audiences
and critics alike singing her praises. If you aren't familiar
with Vernon Duke (although you probably know more than a few
of his songs) and his place in the history of musical theatre,
you shouldn't feel too bad since Duke (whose original name
was Vladimir Aleksandrovich Dukelsky) did not enjoy much success
on Broadway. A classically trained child prodigy, Duke started
writing for Broadway in 1930 with lyricists Ira Gershwin and
Yip Harburg, with whom he wrote "I Can't Get Started"
(from Ziegfeld Follies of 1936) and "April in
Paris" (from the revue Walk a Little Faster
in 1932) respectively. His only successful show was Cabin
in the Sky, which opened in 1940, starred Ethel Waters
and included the classic song "Taking a Chance on Love."
All this information and much more is imparted by Blackhurst
in a rapid paced, highly entertaining manner (to learn about
Ethel Merman's run in with Duke, how a choice by Mary Martin
shaped musical history, as well as an intriguing and unlikely
collaboration between Duke, Blanchine and Salvador Dali, you'll
just have to see the show). Blackhurst, who sounds absolutely
incredible (imagine, if you will, a love child between Ethel
Merman and Helen Reddy) has done a marvelous job of putting
together an evening that consists of beloved Duke songs (cheif
being, of course, the title song) mixed in with forgotten
gems (my favorites being two numbers Duke wrote with Howard
Dietz: "Indefinable Charm" and "Poor as a Churchmouse,"
the latter being from Sadie Thomson, a failed musical
based on Somerset Maugham's Rain). Blackhurst is
backed by Michael Rice and The Pocket Change Trio, who has
put together some absolutely delighful arrangements (the Gershwin
inspired "April in Paris" was particularly effective).
Klea Blackhurst's Autumn in New York: Vernon Duke's Broadway
is the perfect illuminator of what makes cabaret such a thrilling
art form and is one of those rare 'must-rush-out-and-see'
shows (the fact that it was the first sold-out, packed to
the rafters shows I've seen in months not only illustrates
that fact, but why you need to make reservations as soon as
possible). Between her powerful pipes, intelligent and humorous
patter, and sublime lyrical interpretations, this is a show
you will kick yourself for missing.
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