In Taking a Chance on Love: Vernon Duke’s Broadway Klea Blackhurst and her pianist/music director Michael Rice demonstrated that they’re experts in the art of building a fluid, varied program in which each song leads logically to the next and which, in the end, leaves you with a clear portrait of the object of her musical affection. There were no “showstoppers” for the simple reason that, even after a takes-your-breath-away ballad like “Sailing at Midnight” (from Sadie Thompson) or an upbeat rarity like “Dancing in the Streets” (with its startlingly contemporary-sounding wartime lyric) the show never stopped. Were Mr. Duke still among the living, he would surely be gratified by this extraordinarily well-researched, consistently entertaining and delightfully informative overview of his life and work.
Chuck Lavazzi
Cabaret Scenes
March 12, 2008
www.cabaretscenes.org
|
