Goldie Dver
What a Man! Goldie Dver Sings Anthony Newley
Don’t Tell Mama, NYC, October 6, 2024
Reviewed by Bart Greenberg
Photo: Conor Weiss
Cabaret chanteuse Goldie Dver shared a close friendship with star Anthony Newley for seven years until his death. Her gratitude for this relationship was abundantly clear in her show What a Man! Goldie Dver Sings Anthony Newley which she brought to Don’t Tell Mama. The evening was everything such a tribute should be—highly personal with a tight focus, a mix of emotions and humor, and a varied song list drawn from the subject’s expansive repertoire with a mix of famous and forgotten numbers. Smoothly directed by James Beaman, with movement overseen by Ann Cooley, and with strong musical support from music director/pianist Dan Pardo, bassist John Miller, and drummer Chip Fabrizi.
Dver’s first words before the packed house of cabaret royalty was “I can’t believe it.” But the love going back between her and the assembled was real indeed. As she launched the evening with a jaunty medley of “I’ve Got a Golden Ticket” and “Nothing Can Stop Me Now!” (all songs by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse unless otherwise noted), she enchanted the audience. Turning more mellow, she focused on a large photograph of Newley placed on the piano to serenade him with a second mashup of “What a Man!” an “Look at That Face” with a mix of honest sentiment and wry humor, which seemed to describe her actual relationship with the performer.
A delightful segment was devoted to Newley’s major successes as a pop singer in the 1960s with such forgotten questions as “Do You Mind?” (Lionel Bart) and “Why?” (Bob Marcucci/Peter De Angelis), and the possibly better remembered “Personality” (Harold Logan/Lloyd Price), the latter of which transformed into an impromptu singalong. Then there was the highly successful Newley-constructed version of the child song playfully filled with cockney slang based on “Pop Goes the Weasel,” performed in the original arrangement. Pure joy.
A decided shift in tone came with a sampling of Newley’s theater songs, some better known than others. For instance, “I Do Not Love You” from the largely forgotten The Good Old Bad Old Days brought out Dver’s inner Dietrich where so much was conveyed with a little shrug or a side-long glance. In contrast, the charm song “Cheer Up Charlie” brought out a sweet maternal side of her personality. A medley of “Feeling Good” and “Gonna Build a Mountain” was a grand demonstration of the merger of Broadway and jazz.
For the dramatic highlight of the evening, Dver donned the trademark hat and gloves that the icon often performed in and offered a highly theatrical version of “Who Can I Turn To?” This is just one of the demonstrations of the show-biz-know-how that filled this wonderful evening, from Dver’s spangly outfit to her full command of the stage to a very clever use of the closing number “Thank You Very Much” (Newley/James Head) with some clever and appropriate lyrics by the Dver.
