Andrea Marcovicci

December 8, 2010

“Blue Champagne: The History of the Torch Song”

Oak Room at the Algonquin  –   November 16 – December 30

Each year I look forward eagerly to Andrea Marcovicci’s annual visit to the Algonquin’s Oak Room. I go expecting an evening of supreme artistry, insightful analysis, and witty entertainment—and I’m never disappointed. Her current offering, which examines, celebrates, and most important, illustrates The Torch Song, extends her one-thousand batting average.

A superb actress/singer, she illuminates every one of the twenty or so songs in her program with her thoughtfully considered and sometimes singular interpretations. Two of them are so extraordinary that they, alone, would be worth the cover charge. “Bill” (Jerome Kern, P.G. Wodehouse, Oscar Hammerstein II) is here performed without a hint of sentimentality or even sentiment; one’s heartstrings are not the target. Instead, in a catchy, syncopated rhythm Marcovicci delivers a chipper, unapologetic admission that she just loves the goof—and she delivers it with relish. This is unlike any other interpretation I’ve ever heard (or imagined), but damned if every word of the lyric doesn’t support this treatment.

The second remarkable turn is an exquisite “Something to Remember You By” (Dietz & Schwartz). Shelly Markham’s lush, impressionistic arrangement, as played by him on piano and enhanced by the rich sound of Jered Egan’s bass, forms an organic whole with Marcovicci’s haunting vocal to create a heartbreakingly plaintive entreaty. My dictionary defines gorgeous as “strikingly beautiful or magnificent.” Gorgeous, yes, that’s the word.

Also standouts are a vehement “Love Me or Leave Me” (Gus Kahn, Walter Donaldson) and a practically visceral “Body and Soul” (Edward Heyman, Robert Sour, Frank Eyton, John Green). Several other classic torch songs are admirably represented, among them the Gershwins’ “Someone to Watch Over Me” and “The Man I Love,” “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” (Jerome Kern, Otto Harbach), “Why Was I Born?” (Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II), and Irving Berlin’s “Say It Isn’t So.” She also gives a non-self-pitying reading of a modern classic, Francesca Blumenthal’s “The Lies of Handsome Men.”

Not all of the numbers have a strong emotional dimension. Vernon Duke and Ogden Nash’s “Just Like a Man” may be a torch song, but it’s a wry and quirky one; Marcovicci sings lyrics that you’ve probably not heard before, which make the song even wryer and quirkier. And there are songs that it might be a stretch to classify as torch: “Mr. Right” (Alan Jay Lerner, Kurt Weill), “Button Up Your Overcoat” (DeSylva, Brown & Henderson), and “My Husband’s First Wife” (Jerome Kern, Irene Franklin), all performed deliciously. Delicious, yes, that’s the word.

 

Avatar

About the Author

Roy Sander has been covering cabaret and theatre for over thirty years. He’s written cabaret and theatre reviews, features, and commentary for seven print publications, most notably Back Stage, and for CitySearch on the Internet. He covered cabaret monthly on “New York Theatre Review” on PBS TV, and cabaret and theatre weekly on WLIM-FM radio. He was twice a guest instructor at the London School of Musical Theatre. A critic for BistroAwards.com, he is also the site’s Reviews Editor; in addition, he is Chairman of the Advisory Board of MAC.