Rumer Willis

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Rumer Willis

Café Carlyle, NYC, April 5, 2016

Reviewed by Elizabeth Ahlfors for Cabaret Scenes

Photo: David Andrako
Photo: David Andrako

Over the last year, it has become evident that Bruce Willis and Demi Moore’s little girl has what it takes for a successful show biz career. In 2015, her tango, foxtrot and cha-cha on Dancing with the Stars won her the mirror ball trophy. She then added singing to her résumé, as Roxie Hart in Broadway’s Chicago.

Rumer Willis, lanky and striking, strolled onto the legendary Café Carlyle stage, no introduction, greeting or waving at customers on her way to the microphone. Focused—and maybe a little bit nervous—she was ready with John Kander and Fred Ebb’s “Maybe This Time,” which led us to an eclectic song list of blues, Latin rhythms, standards and pop favorites arranged by Christopher Lloyd Bratten.
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By the end of her performance, this privileged child of Hollywood may have surprised some viewers with her authoritative compendium of music.
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The hint of vocal cigarette smokiness pointed to an Etta James and Billie Holiday influence and Willis admitted that her father had played recordings by jazz musicians. Not bad influences when you want to share your observations about love—and no love—in the face-to-face intimacy of a cabaret. Mentioning that “God Bless the Child” (Holiday/Arthur Herzog, Jr.) was particularly meaningful to her, she delivered it with a truthful solemnity. She eschewed the Etta James mega-hit “At Last” and, instead, wisely chose “A Sunday Kind of Love” (Barbara Belle/Anita Leonard/Stan Rhodes/Louis Prima), delivering lyrics she obviously believed and taking the opportunity to show off her own potent belt. Her musical lines are long and smooth and her musical backup is powerful with Musical Director/pianist James Sampliner, Danny Weller on bass and Dan Berkery on drums.

Willis’ shimmery tremolo also showed a similarity to Amy Winehouse in the late singer-songwriter’s “You Know I’m No Good,” the self-accusing lyrics sinuously backed by a Latin rhythm. This downward direction in her songs continued with “Bloodshot Eyes” (Ruth Hall/Hank Penny), wrapped in a tough country and R&B sound. Fiona Apple’s “Criminal” boosted the bad-girl confession. Willis offered these with a compelling honesty, just as she did when she sang the controversial “Take Me to Church” (Andrew Hozier-Byrne).

In a lighter moment, she brought onstage her music producer and best friend Tye Blue to join her in a nod to Chicago with the droll “Class.” Willis also flavored the show with two Latin pop standards. From Mexico, she swayed to “Sway” (Pablo Beltrán Ruiz/ English words by Norman Gimbel) and “Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps” from Cuba (Osvaldo Farres/ English words by Joe Davis), a hit in 1947 for Bobby Capó and a hit for Doris Day.

The encore tied up this personal love, or no love story, with “The Story” (Phil Hanseroth) and its essential line: “But these stories don’t mean anything/When you’ve got no one to tell them to/It’s true, I was made for you.
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Elizabeth Ahlfors

Born and raised in New York, Elizabeth graduated from NYU with a degree in Journalism. She has lived in various cities and countries and now is back in NYC. She has written magazine articles and published three books: A Housewife’s Guide to Women’s Liberation, Twelve American Women, and Heroines of ’76 (for children). A great love was always music and theater—in the audience, not performing. A Philadelphia correspondent for Theatre.com and InTheatre Magazine, she has reviewed theater and cabaret for the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia City News. She writes for Cabaret Scenes and other cabaret/theater sites. She is a judge for Nightlife Awards and a voting member of Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle.