All About Me

Opposites attract, they say, but sometimes the attraction is no more than a fleeting intrigue. All About Me at the Henry Miller Theater was an idea that sadly sputtered to a halt.

Someone obviously thought that bringing these two disparate performers, each with considerable individual talents, would spark off a display of colorful theater. One "Me" is Michael Feinstein, witty, sophisticated musicologist/pianist/singer/nightclub owner. The other "Me" is outrageous lavender-coiffed Aussie drag empress, Dame Edna Everage, AKA Barry Humphries.  Unfortunately, there was little compatibility between the two and, as talented as each is, there were sluggish moments in the outmoded and forced 90-minute show.

Feinstein and Humphries co-wrote All About Me with the help of Christopher Durang, offering the premise that each did not know the other would be sharing the stage. Both of the solo turns were successful.  First, it was all about Feinstein as he delivered his engaging renditions from the Great American Songbook in a full, rich voice, far more confident than his last theater showing twenty years ago. Rodgers and Hart's "My Romance" was warm with sincerity.  Then, as he sang the original, not Sinatra-altered, lyrics of "The Lady Is a Tramp," enter: Dame Edna. Lovingly sarcastic, she thanked him for doing her “warm-up” and they began a verbal tug-of-war as to who belonged on this stage. After a farcical argument, Dame Edna's two hunky “aides” (Gregory Butler and Jon-Paul Mateo) physically removed Feinstein and the stage was all Dame Edna’s. She brought in her trademark gladioli and began a hilarious tête-à-tête with the audience.

"Hello, paupers!" she called to the far balcony where the "nouveau pauvres" sat. Warning them of the balcony's steep angle, she pleaded, "Cling on! Don't lean over." She shared confidences about her new baby from the same African town where Madonna adopted her babies. She confided that she was "possibly Jewish”:  “When I was five, I could make a manicure appointment." She derided Madoff and stated this would be “a Sondheim-free zone,” although later, she tackled her own "The Ladies Who Lunch."  One of several original songs in the show was Dame Edna's version of poignancy with "The Dingo Ate My Baby" (Michael Feinstein and Barry Humphries). You hated to see her leave the stage.

In the name of peace, the “stage manager”   (Jodi Capeless), finally mediated an uneasy arrangement after which she celebrated with her own John Kander and Fred Ebb showstopper, "But the World Goes ‘Round."

With mismatched stars and a clumsy concept, director Casey Nicholaw went for the razzle-dazzle. Alicia Louizos's duplex stage was set in spectacular 1930s Busby Berkeley glossy white, with hints of lavender lighting by Howell Binkley, a salute to the elegance of Dame Edna's coiffure, always lavender, pouffed and intact. Stephen Adnitt designed Dame Edna's array of sparkling gowns with elaborate details of silk and feathered blossoms. Rob Bowman's vigorous onstage orchestra gave additional bang to Feinstein's robust "What Did I Have That I Don't Have?" (Burton Lane/Alan Jay Lerner) and Charles Strouse and Lee Adams's "A Lot of Livin' to Do."

Feinstein and Dame Edna had some success together with "The Medley Song," but the highlight came with their closer, "The Gladdy Song" and some generous flower-tossing. Audience members jumped to their feet, grabbing for the glads, a standing ovation of sorts. This was the one moment it was All About We – Michael Feinstein, Dame Edna and us.

(Photo by Peter James Zielinski)

Elizabeth Ahlfors
Cabaret Scenes
March 28, 2010
www.cabaretscenes.org