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“Sittin’ on Top of the World”
Feinstein’s at Loews Regency – April 3 & 5
Glamour, attitude, sophistication—this was once the image of nightclub divas. These days, not so much—though occasionally you spot that charisma on stage right before you. This was how last October, Amra-Faye Wright, a statuesque platinum blonde from South Africa, showed the audience of the 22nd Annual Cabaret Convention what stage presence is all about.
While that performance was far from her professional debut, Amra-Faye Wright is not a name on the tip of your tongue. She is best known as the singing, dancing murderess Velma Kelly in Chicago, although she has also performed around the world in diverse theater roles, from Mother Superior in Nunsense to Sandy in Grease, and in cabarets and multi-million dollar extravaganzas. Recently, Wright returned to Feinstein’s to prove that with her varied show business career, she feels she is “Sittin’ on Top of the World.”
Her opener, as she slinked into the room and around the tables, was John Kander and Fred Ebb’s “Boom Ditty,” a two-word silly ditty from 70, Girls, 70, which Wright put over with amused panache. With a boost in the tempo, she segued to Kander & Ebb’s “Running in Place,” from Steel Pier. These two songs set the stage for Wright’s journey through her professional life—a life greatly influenced by Kander & Ebb. Not only has Chicago “kept me busy for well over a decade,” it was listening to the original cast recording of that musical when she was a teenager that inspired her to set her sights on a show business career.
Accompanied by musical director Scott Cady on piano, Jeff Carney on bass, and Heinrich Kruse on drums, she presented a program of show tunes and songs from the American and international songbooks. “How Ya Gonna Keep ‘Em Down on the Farm? (After They’ve Seen Paree),” a post-World War I hit by Sam M. Lewis, Joe Young and Walter Donaldson, recalled the razzle-dazzle of Velma and Roxie. Performing all over the world, she learned to sing in Italian (“Non Dimenticar” by P. G. Redi and Michele Galdieri), French (“Padam, Padam” by Norbert Glanzberg and Henri Contet), and German (Friedrich Holländer’s “Ich bin von Kopf bis Fuss,” known in English as “Falling in Love Again”). She delivered the saucy “I Do What I Can with What I Got” (Larry Grossman, Ellen Fitzhugh) in Japanese.
Among her few ballads was a fluid version of “Ntyilo Ntyilo,” which had been a hit for South African singer Miriam Makeba. Also effective was Wright’s tender rendition of Paul Williams and Kenny Ascher’s sweet “Rainbow Connection,” which she sang in tribute to Nelson Mandela. Her strengths lie mainly in strong rhythmic songs that take advantage of her expressive, smooth movements. Though she may add a bit of bump-and-grind, she has a ballet grace that extends throughout her body and out into her fingertips. While her patter is evidently rehearsed, she has a whimsical side and can toss off quips, and moving around the stage, she maintains a fine audience contact.
Now back again on Broadway as Velma in Chicago, Amra-Faye Wright epitomizes not only polish and confidence to spare, but the dedication that continues to drive that sleek exterior.
