Mitzi Gaynor

May 23, 2010

“Razzle Dazzle! My Life Behind the Sequins”

Feinstein’s at Loews Regency  –  May 18 – 29

After the band plays the overture, she makes her entrance from stage right. It is unmistakably her—Mitzi Gaynor—an icon whose name conjures up memories and images of Technicolor Hollywood and who triumphed on television in a series of highly successful annual specials. It is an inspired entrance and a thrilling moment. She then sings and dances “Honey Bun,” and for a few minutes we’re in the presence of twenty-something Nellie Forbush. A delicious start to an enormously entertaining evening.

Unabashedly autobiographical, the show gives us considerable insight into the lady herself, lots of good old-fashioned show-biz dish, a good helping of musical numbers, and a handful of videos, mainly extracts from her film career and television appearances. It’s all pretty wonderful. We also get a half-dozen or so—I really should have counted—beautiful and glamorous Bob Mackie dresses, as befits a beautiful, glamorous leading lady. (To accommodate the production’s technical requirements, the show is presented in the hotel’s ballroom, not in the regular Feinstein’s performance space.)

Towards the top of the show she tries a little too hard to show us that she’s a regular gal and neither prim-and-proper nor a self-important “star”; the attempt comes across as a bit coy. Moreover, it’s completely unnecessary. If you attended the Bistro Awards last month, when Gaynor was presented the Bob Harrington Lifetime Achievement Award, you know how enchanting she is in person—how down-to-earth and refreshingly irreverent, and how very, very funny. Happily, the contrivance is over quickly, and for the rest of the ninety minutes we get pure Mitzi.

The predominant tone of the evening is one of lightness and laughter; this is reflected not only in the patter, but also in the song selections and arrangements. For example, we get a rollicking rendition of “Show Off” (Lisa Lambert, Greg Morrison, from The Drowsy Chaperone), with special material by Dick DeBenedictis and Bill Dyer, and “Fabulous Places” (Leslie Bricusse, from Doctor Dolittle) with special material by Shane Rosamonda and Rene Reyes that transforms the song from an expression of places one hopes to visit into a recounting of the cities and clubs that Gaynor has, in fact, played—sprinkled with delightful, funny anecdotes. And in addition to the show’s opener, there’s a medley of four other Rodgers & Hammerstein songs from South Pacific.

One subject is treated not only with humor, but also with heartfelt sentiment: her relationship with Jack Bean, who was her manager and, for 52 years, her husband. Clearly, he was the love of her life, and her feelings for him add a warm glow to her affecting rendition of a pairing of “If I Had You” (Jimmy Campbell, Reginald Connelly, Ted Shapiro) and “It All Depends on You” (DeSylva, Brown & Henderson).

Contributing behind the scene were director/choreographer Tony Charmoli and musical arrangers Dick DeBenedictis and Bill Dyer. Working on the scene are music director Ed Czach on piano, Paul Kreibich on drums, Gary Nesteruk on keyboard, and David Finck on bass. And, of course, creating the scene, the delectable Mitzi Gaynor.

 

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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.