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Roslyn Kind
April 16, 2014
Roslyn Kind has returned to her hometown with the debut of her new club act, appropriately called “It’s Been a While,” at 54 Below. On opening night, an endearingly nervous Kind shared a set with her receptive audience that alternately reflected both her notable strengths and unique challenges as an artist.
Looking sexy and trim in a simple black two-piece ensemble, Miss Kind delivered the goods with several excellent moments that suggested the full measure of what she is capable of. Though she seemed tentative at times—particularly at the outset—there is little question that she is talented, likeable, and real.
The singer is ably supported by musical director Alex Rybeck on piano, Jered Egan on bass, and Dan Gross on drums. The repertoire pulls from songs that Kind recorded early in her career (“Beautiful Day” and the Beatles’ “Fool on the Hill” from early RCA albums) and from better-known songs from Broadway and Tin Pan Alley. Martin and Blane’s “The Boy Next Door” is paired with “If He Were Straight and I Were Young” (Francesca Blumenthal, Ronny Whyte) which, despite its humorous intentions and being capably performed, seems oddly defeatest given the singer’s talent and good looks.
Highlights of the show include a lovely and rarely recorded Burt Bacharach/Hal David song “I Just Have to Breathe,” which showcases Kind’s interpretive strengths, a rousing “He Can Do It” (Peter Udell, Gary Geld, from Purlie) and a well-paired medley of Jerry Herman songs: “It Only Takes a Moment” (Hello Dolly!) and “Kiss Her Now” (Dear World).
Perhaps best of all is Kind’s rendition of Kander and Ebb’s “All That Jazz” from Chicago. Teasing that she may be the only person that producers Fran and Barry Weissler haven’t approached to star in the long-running musical, she then gives ample evidence that they might do well to pick up the phone; she puts the song over with significant style and power.
As the sister of Barbra Streisand, and through no fault of her own, fate has handed Kind an unusual problem. She looks, and at times sounds, a great deal like her sibling; how to create her own space and articulate her own identity as a performer is a challenge that has been shadowing her from the start. To that point, the best parts of “It’s Been a While” are the moments when Kind shares personal anecdotes. By relating her own experiences in recording studios and on TV at interesting points in pop culture history, thereby letting the audience get to know her more, she will go a long way toward continuing to articulate her own identity on stage. I would encourage her to continue to develop that aspect of her stage persona.
And by coming to visit us more often—maybe her next show should be called “It’s Been a Few Months”—we will be given the opportunity to see her as her own person. She seems to be as down to earth and warm as her sister is, so there is ample indication that a Roslyn Kind show with an even more personal slant would be a music-lover’s time well spent.
“It’s Been a While”
54 Below – April 6, 20