Anita Hollander
Still Standing—A Musical Guide to Life’s Catastrophes
Petterino’s, Chicago, IL, March 22 2016
Reviewed by Carla Gordon for Cabaret Scenes
Although Anita Hollander lost a leg to cancer in 1977, she went on to have a career in theater from Broadway to regional venues. While performing in a run of The Matchmaker at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre (which is adjacent to Petterino’s), she, along with producer Denise McGowan, presented Still Standing to a full house at Petterino’s. While Hollander performs the personally written show without her prosthetic leg, she does show it to us.
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For the most part, she delivers her songs perched gracefully on a single limb. Still Standing—A Musical Guide to Life’s Catastrophes is a very intimate journey and it is not for sissies. Her lyrics are often edgy and at times a little unnerving. Some amputees experience phantom pain and other sensations relative to the missing limb.
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Hollander dreams that her now absent limb is shuttled among 15 hospitals for “research.
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” The images in the song certainly rattled the cage of this reporter. “Walkman” brings a lighter touch as Hollander shares her gratitude and pleasure for the music that got her through challenging post-surgery rehabilitation.
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“Mommy Is a Mermaid” is sung from the point of view of Hollander’s daughter as a child. The images are lovely: the daughter knows that mommy is a little different from the other moms, so a mermaid she must be.
Hollander’s voice is supple. She can transition her sound gracefully from brassy belt to gentle vulnerability. Her cast of “invisible guest voices” was recorded on tracks and sought to add musical layering to the show. However, the balance between the tracks and the live vocalist was at times off, making the “guest voices” difficult to hear. Hollander’s sister, Reverend Rachel Hollander, provided American Sign Language interpretation throughout the show, which added visual interest and was often moving.
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Still Standing’s closing number, “Here I Stand,” is simultaneously witty and inspirational, befitting not only Hollander’s own journey, but that of any of us who tackle life’s setbacks by the horns to end up standing tall.
