“I Want to Go to Hollywood”—well doesn’t everyone? But if Michelle Collier, blond and looking very '40s in a tight fitting sexy gown, should get there. . . she’d fit right in!

Occasionally, performers choose a genre of song and style that also fits them physically and vocally.  This is one of those times.

In a tribute to film entertainment featuring the Hollywood blondes, Collier provided a plethora of research information (perhaps more than needed) about each and every one of her chosen celebrity bombshells.

More importantly, Collier is an exuberant entertainer with a big voice and belt and a sparkle in her eyes. From the energetic and frenetic Betty Hutton’s “Arthur Murray Taught Me Dancing in a Hurry” (Mercer/Schertzinger) (Collier fills in the musical interludes with dance breaks) to the staid, sweet Jane Powell’s “Too Late Now” (Royal Wedding), where Collier produced a simpler inner passion, it appears that blondes do have more fun!

Sexy and sultry Marilyn Monroe was memorialized as Collier, perched atop the piano, emoted the sad “Help Me File My Claim” from River Of No Return. It was non-stop blond on blond, from Dolores Gray and Doris Day to Mitzi Gaynor and Shirley Jones. The piece de resistance of hilarity was Collier’s tribute to comedic Madeline Kahn playing Lili Von Shtupp in Blazing Saddles, as she rolled around on the piano crying (with accent)  “I’m tired, sick and tired of love…everything below the waist is kaput!”

Collier appears to be more at home vocally in country-western genres such as Olivia Newton John’s “Hopelessly Devoted to You” and Meryl Streep’s “I’m Checking Out of This Heartbreak Hotel”(Postcards From The Edge). Although Collier can become a bit shrill on her high belts, she has a good solid range that enables her to sing the wide variety of styles of these Hollywood Blondes. She was ably accompanied by veteran Musical Director Rick Jensen, with Matt Wigton on bass and Fred Kennedy on drums.

Sandi Durell
Cabaret Scenes
May 23, 2009
www.cabaretscenes.org