CHICAGO
- MIDWEST CABARET REVIEWS
Joan
Curto: Sassy Meets Classy!
Reviewed
by Carla Gordon
The
longer I swim in cabaret waters, the clearer it becomes to me that
better cabaret performers offer more than excellent craft. Joan Curto
has long owned the craft. Her vocal range is noteworthy (pardon the
pun, please.). She can flash opera chops for impressive high money
notes (as in Mary Martin's audition piece, "Il Bacio", making an impressive
turn from opera to swing) and as of late bring a sultry purr to her
lower register. She has a lovely face and figure. I first saw Joan
years ago and found her to be a pleasant performer.
However,
Curto's new show, "Brassy, Sassy, and Classy The Songs of Ethel Merman
and Mary Martin on Broadway" performed at DAVENPORT'S gives us a gift
richer than pleasantly crafted music; it gives us the insides of three
impassioned singers, Mary Martin, Ethel Merman, and Joan herself.
Joan takes the risks and pulls out the stops in presenting the stories
and the songs of these queens of Broadway.
Joan made a bold, effective choice starting with what
is arguably Merman's signature tune, "Everything's Coming Up Roses"
(from Gypsy, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim; music by Jules Styne) combined
with "Some People" (from the same show). At the opening bell, we see
that heart of Curto we have longed for. Although there were moments
of this in her last show, "Of Thee I Sing, Ira", "Brassy and Sassy..."
strikes the motherlode. "Everything's Coming Up Roses" does more than
set a positive tone, it reminds us of the value of optimism even in
frightening moments (like the beginning of one's cabaret show). "Some
People" a tribute to ballsy determination and obstacles overcome takes
on extra layers combined with "Roses".
Placing a Mary Martin signature tune, "I'm Flying" from
Broadway musical, Peter Pan (composers Mark Charlap and Jule Styne,
lyricists Carolyn Leigh, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green) following
the previous tunes brought dimension to the words:
I'm flying.
(Flying, flying, flying)
Nothing will stop me now:
Higher still look at how
I can zoom around,
'Way up off the ground
I'm flying.
Curto's flight travels beyond a child's fantasy; it
is about the determination that made Martin and Merman musical theater
legends (and is making Curto's star rise in cabaret). Joan shares
stories about these Broadway babies with genuine delight: Merman overcoming
negative reviews and young Mary Martin being educated by Sophie Tucker
that the "daddy" she about which she sings in Cole Porter's "My Heart
Belongs to Daddy" (in the musical Leave It To Me) did not refer to
her, um, biological father.
Both Merman and Martin played the title role in Annie
Get Your Gun (Merman originating the role on Broadway, and Martin
playing Annie Oakley on tour and in the 1957 television special. (I
happen to remember it, old thing that I am). It had been written specifically
for Ethel Merman. Playwright Dorothy Fields had felt that casting
Merman as Annie Oakley would guarantee a surefire hit. Curto selects
two tunes from Irving Berlin's masterful musical: "You Can't Get a
Man With a Gun", and "I Got Lost in His Arms". In Man With a Gun,
Curto finds the just right intensity between Merman's trumpet delivery
and Martin's perkiness. Joan is at once reflective, funny and very
sexy. "I Got Lost In His Arms," is about willing surrender. Curto
delivers this song without a shred of the sappiness that half thought
interpretations too often bring. The song is a realization of the
tradeoff relationships bring; "I got lost, but look what I found."
Curto gets that.
I hope this show is offered again. See it and you may
find yourself lining up to buy pajamas for your new favorite pistol
packing Mama, Joan Curto.
DAVENPORT'S is located at 1383 North Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, IL
- 773-278-1830 - http://www.davenportspianobar.com/
Copyright, 2007 by Carla Gordon
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