Dorothy Bishop
The Dozen Divas Show
Metropolitan Room, NYC, August 25, 2017
Reviewed by Joel Benjamin for Cabaret Scenes
Forget about her sharply focused impersonations of divas from Joan Rivers to Renee Fleming. What’s extraordinary about Dorothy Bishop’s The Dozen Divas Show is the combination of her energy and high spirits which never flagged during more than an hour of singing, dancing, and instant costume changes.
Performed to pre-recorded accompaniment and, several times, to videos with which Bishop interacted, Divas began with Joan Rivers’ screechy “I’m Too Sexy” (Fred Fairbrass/Richard Fairbrass/Rob Manzoli), followed by a gesture-perfect Shirley Bassey and her signature “Goldfinger” (John Barry/Leslie Bricusse/Anthony Newley), and a rather full-figured Kristin Chenoweth doing “Defying Gravity” (Stephen Schwartz).
Her Sarah Brightman, hidden in a cascade of a curly hair, showed off Bishop’s operatic training (“The Phantom of the Opera,” Andrew Lloyd Webber/Charles Hart/Richard Stilgoe). Staying in that opera vein, Bishop surprised with a Renee Fleming who stumbled through a ditsy, rhythmically challenged—not to mention, hilarious—“It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing).”
Bishop duplicated the famous Barbra Streisand/Judy Garland TV duet of “Happy Days Are Here Again” (Milton Ager/Jack Yellen) and “Get Happy” (Harold Arlen/Ted Koehler) with Garland appearing on video, visiting from heaven where she has communed with such great singers as Whitney Houston.
Bishop got Stevie Nicks’ squeaky warble, her song interrupted by snorts of cocaine. Complete with a gap-tooth smile, Bishop’s Madonna was a self-proclaimed genius who vogued and chatted in front of a strange video featuring claymation figures.
Of course there had to be a Liza Minnelli (“But the World Goes ‘Round” by Kander & Ebb) and a Cher (“If I Could Turn Back Time” by Diane Warren), both moderately successful in a world of Minnelli and Cher imitators.
Bishop’s main limitations are her buxom build and wide features, which make it a tad harder to believe her as several of her characters. Her astute study of their mannerisms—vocal and physical—and her acting help camouflage any deficiency. Nitpicking at Bishop’s occasional slips and carelessness would neglect the overall entertainment quotient and eager-to-please demeanor of this talented lady.
