Elizabeth Doyle’s Dakota Blonde: the Lyrics of Peggy Lee focuses not on Lee as vocalist, but rather as writer. Lee wrote songs with several noteworthy musicians including Marian McPartland, Duke Ellington and Harold Arlen. Doyle doesn’t imitate kittenish-voiced Lee. Doyle’s voice is resonant. Opening with “It’s a Good Day” sets a positive tone and a jazz lightness. The anecdotes about Lee’s life are interesting. Doyle captures the sweetness of remembering in the languid “The Days of Our Love.” The medley from the Disney film Lady and the Tramp in which Doyle was joined by Suzanne Petri captures the sassiness of the music without smugness. In “Everything’s Moving Too Fast,” Doyle exposes interpretive layers that crooner Lee never plumbed. When I asked why Peggy Lee’s signature tune, “Fever,” wasn’t included, Doyle replied that whether Lee wrote the lyric is controversial. It’s okay; we can take the heat
Carla Gordon
Cabaret Scenes
March 22, 2008
www.cabaretscenes.org
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