Lorna Dallas

Stages

Birdland, NYC, February 11, 2019

Reviewed by Elizabeth Ahlfors for Cabaret Scenes

One year ago, Lorna Dallas brought a new show, Home Again, to Birdland. This week, she  offered a look at the Stages of her life, a delightful show full of laughter, wit, and poignancy. Through her expressive and powerful voice, she mines her songs for the depth and emotion to communicate to the audience.

There’s no business like show business for this Midwest gal as she illustrates the years leading to her life as a lyric soprano on stage, screen, and recordings. She traces her childhood in the small town of Carrier Mills, Illinois, leading to winning singing contests and traveling to New Orleans and London and currently enjoying her homes in London and New York City. Through anecdotes and music, Dallas exhibits acting skill as well as that glorious voice that brings out the nuances in the greatest songs of the Great American Songbook.  

Cleverly, Dallas opens with a wry one-act, two-song play, beginning with Stephen Sondheim’s “Glamorous Life” (“Pack up the luggage/Unpack the luggage/La, la la”), and leads smoothly into Irving Berlin’s show-biz anthem, “There’s No Business Like Show Business” (“Even with a turkey that you know will fold”). Dallas faces these two sides of a stage career with fitting aphorisms like John Kander and Fred Ebb’s, “All I Need” (Is One Good Break).” 

She got her break. A trip to New Orleans revealed her meeting with Fanny May, owner of an elaborate mansion—actually a bordello. May, who knew a thing or two, gave Dallas some advice from the pens of Cole Porter and Barry Kleinbort, “Never Give Anything Away” (“That You Can Sell”). Dallas sold the song with solid sass. Later, another song highlighted the lessons in “Teach Me Tonight” (Gene DePaul/Sammy Cahn). 

She adds one amusing reminiscence about her appearance in Kismet, singing one of the show’s hits, “Stranger in Paradise.” Not only did Dallas perform in the show, but she was booked in the Savoy nightclub at the same time. She was also hired to record the song in German, sending her on a daily dash from the studio in Germany, to the London theater, to the Savoy, and in between, to attending the games at Wimbledon. She punctuated the memory by performing her song in her immaculate classic rendition for the theater; for the nightclub, she belted it with vigorous show biz pizzazz; and then added a few bars in German.

Notable is a standard she always hoped to make her own, a beautifully layered “Blues in the Night” (Harold Arlen/Johnny Mercer), her vocals vibrantly deep and soaring to lyric soprano heights. Heartfelt ballads include “My Dearest Dear” (Ivor Novello/Christolpher Hassall), a favorite of the Royals, and a haunting “Empty” (Larry Grossman/Hal Hackaday) that was unfortunately cut from the musical Minnie’s Boys. A sublime rendition of “Hello, Young Lovers,” (Rodgers & Hammerstein) brought audience members to their feet.

Perhaps most touching was her a cappella start to Arlen and E.Y. Harburg’s “Over the Rainbow” before music director Christopher Denny joined in with his masterful piano, adding his sensitive touch. The song was paired with “Was” by Joseph Thalken and Kleinbort (Dallas’ longtime director). As most of us know, “Over the Rainbow,” was made famous by Judy Garland as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. The second song, “Was,” refers to the novel that inspired L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, featuring an 1880’s orphan named Dorothy Gael.

Last year’s Home Again was a tribute to Dallas’ late husband, Garry Brown. Stages is a tribute to Lorna Dallas: entertainer. Both shows are expressions of love and talent, filled with the emotion and positivity of what she calls the rhythm of life.