Jane Krakowski

October 16, 2009

“Has Sold Out … Tickets Available”

Feinstein’s at Loew’s Regency  –  October 6 – 10, 13, 14, 17

On big stage or small, Jane Krakowski knows how to make an entrance. In the award-winning 2003 Broadway production of Nine, Jane Krakowski slithered down from the rafters wrapped in a filmy white sheet to deliver “A Call from the Vatican” (Maury Yeston). Then, upside down, she glided back up.   She did not repeat that moment in her cabaret show on Feinstein’s far tinier stage. Instead, she slipped into a tight red sheath and perched on the piano with an incandescent rendition of Cole Porter’s “The Laziest Gal in Town.”

Jane Krakowski has a delicious stage presence, reminiscent of all the sex kittens you’ve ever seen on stage and screen. She is a Kewpie doll who sings, dances, and possesses good comic flair. Without a sticky saccharine veneer, she is cute with the Plus Factor: cute plus sexy in her opening number, and cute plus bouncy singing “Rubber Ducky” (Jeffrey Moss) and blowing bubbles with a Tiffany silver bubble blower. This cheerleader fizz, plus an affinity for double entendres, are her strengths and she keeps them simmering on the front burner.

Krakowski did not venture to the dark side. After performing Eubie Blake and Andy Razaf’s “My Handy Man” as a sassy duet with the wittiest bass player around, Jay Leonhart, she paired “I’m Old Fashioned” (Jerome Kern/Johnny Mercer) and Marve Fisher’s “Old Fashioned Girl.”  All very sly and adorable, but you cannot believe a word of it.  Krakowski may be reminiscent of Betty Boop and Ann-Margret, but she is as up-do-date as her modernized version of Rodgers and Hart’s “Zip” from Pal Joey. Just performing the original “Zip” would have been an effective choice for the show, but Krakowski went further and got Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman to give it a millennium twist that might be called “Tweet,” with lines like “Alex Baldwin sure was brilliant today” and, barely malicious, “Kristen Chenoweth won an Emmy—how sweet.”  It was slick and literate, and her with-it audience appreciated the bittersweet tang, remembering Chenoweth’s recent Outstanding Supporting Actress Award for Pushing Daisies against Krakowski’s 30 Rock. In less satisfying updating, she hip-hopped Chad Beguelin’s rejuvenated lyrics to “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” (Jule Styne/Leo Robin). Again, a crowd pleaser, but neither the lyric nor the concept was as snappy as the reworking of “Zip.”

Referring to Krakowski’s strong theatre background, “A Little Brains, A Little Talent” was reprised from her appearance in the City Center Encores production of Damn Yankees. In a reference to her fondness for Englishmen, she delivered a cheeky pairing of “An Englishman Needs Time” (Ann de Nys and Michael Treford) with Ralph Rainger’s ’30s style “A Guy What Takes His Time.” With clarity and grasp of the lyrics, Krakowski was on target with ’60s continental cunning in the first tune and Mae West-style earthiness in the second.

A spacey “When I Get Low I Get High” (Marion Sunshine) jacked up the amps and led into a frenetic “Wacky Dust” (Oscar Levant and Stanley Adams). Yes, the same wacky dust you’re thinking of. This is a likeable entertainer who does bubbly sex appeal as well as anyone around.  One surprise was her reliance on written notes for this show, which featured many selections previously heard in her 2005 show at Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series.

Jane Krakowski was accompanied by musical director/pianist, Michael Kosarin, Jay Leonhart on bass, guitarist Kevin Kuhn, John Redsecker on drums, and Lawrence Feldman on woodwinds.

 


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