Nellie McKay

March 25, 2012

“Silent Spring – It’s Not Nice to Fool Mother Nature”

Feinstein’s at Loews Regency – March 20-31

Inspired by the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring,” a book that many argue started the modern environmentalist movement, idiosyncratic singer/songwriter Nellie McKay has fashioned a one-woman show on her subject, shoehorning a mix of old and new songs into the narrative. It’s an odd fit.

McKay plays Carson throughout, starting the show with a voiceover between Rachel, as a child, and her mother. When she enters the room, McKay and two of her backup musicians dance to the stage in graduation garb; the musicians look as if they’ve been dragged into the skit rather unrehearsed and out of their element. Some sort of framing is needed: anyone from the hotel or any other guest wandering into the show who is unfamiliar with Carson (or for that matter, McKay) would rightly be wondering what is going on.

The small stage is decorated with props from the mid-century—a typewriter, a microscope, binoculars, and a black rotary phone—which McKay uses to advance the action of the plot, such as it is. It’s rather straightforward chronological biography, and there isn’t much time to go beneath the surface of Carson’s accomplishments and delve into her character. It turns out, that’s not such a bad thing. McKay, the perfect voice for spring—a rebirth of something old and yet with the ever-yearning hopefulness of the season—is at her best when she just delivers the song. Unfortunately, the albatross of the Carson storyline hangs over them; one wants to enjoy the songs as they are, not as a Carson showtune.

Nevertheless, McKay knocks a few of them out of the park, hardly breaking a sweat. “Listen Here” (Dave Frishberg) is done simply, with just McKay accompanying herself on piano, to great effect. “It’s So Peaceful in the Country” (Alec Wilder) taps into McKay’s innate believability as a performer, honest and without affect. She shows her musicianship creds by giving a spirited performance of “The Gentleman Is a Dope” (Rodgers & Hammerstein), singing with just drums and bass while her charismatic sax-and-flute player, Tivon Pennicott, dances and scats alongside her.

Even McKay’s speaking voice carries that gee-whiz innocence of the leading ladies of the silver screen in the ’50s, but once in a while she lets the comic lines out. While dialing the phone as Carson, she muses, “I wonder when they’ll invent a touch-tone phone.” The line may not seem that funny, but it’s McKay’s delivery that brings the unexpected laugh. Likewise, when she performs a jaunty “A Wonderful Guy” (Rodgers & Hammerstein), which she covered a few years back on her terrific Doris Day tribute album, Normal as Blueberry Pie, she says (now as McKay herself), “This song is from South Pacific and doesn’t pertain to Miss Carson at all, except that she did help the Pacific and the south.”

So, like an April sun striking a patch of daffodils, there are flashes of brilliance, but the whole doesn’t quite work. She is ably backed up by Alexi Davis on bass, Kenneth Salters on percussion, Cary Park on guitar, and the excellent aforementioned Tivon Pennicott on saxophone and flute. When the lights go down at the end of this play, the audience is as silent as a cricketless spring, not sure quite what has transpired. McKay rescues the ending by sitting at the piano and thanking everyone for coming. She then adopts a raspy, Louis Armstrong-type vocal and launches into a rocking version of Cole Porter’s “Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall in Love)” that elicits a roar of approval from the crowd.

In the end, at Feinstein’s prices, this venue would seem an odd choice for workshopping a new musical. Nonetheless, McKay is endlessly inventive and can be counted on to come up with something off the beaten track. She may not always get it right, but she’s never dull.

 

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About the Author

Kevin Scott Hall performed in cabaret clubs for many years and recorded three CDs, including “New Light Dawning” in 1998, which received national airplay. He also worked at the legendary piano bar, Rose’s Turn, and has taught cabaret workshops and directed shows since 1995. Kevin earned his MFA in Creative Writing at City College of New York. He is an adjunct professor in the Theatre and English departments at City College and Borough of Manhattan Community College. His novel, “Off the Charts!” was published in 2010, and his memoir, “A Quarter Inch from My Heart” (Wisdom Moon), in 2014. Kevin writes a monthly column and entertainment features for Edge Media Network, writes reviews for BistroAwards.com, and freelances for other publications.