{"id":3205,"date":"2011-02-22T09:02:37","date_gmt":"2011-02-22T13:02:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/?p=3205"},"modified":"2011-02-22T09:02:37","modified_gmt":"2011-02-22T13:02:37","slug":"theatre-ethel-mermans-broadway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/theatre-ethel-mermans-broadway\/","title":{"rendered":"THEATRE: ETHEL MERMAN\u2019S BROADWAY"},"content":{"rendered":"

ETHEL MERMAN\u2019S BROADWAY<\/em><\/h1>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I just realized this is a very limited engagement show, so I\u2019m telling you up front that every student of musical theatre, and everyone who knows who Ethel Merman was, and every fan of an easy, entertaining evening must rush out and see it this week!<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s my background on it: when I attended opening night of Ballroom With A Twist <\/em>recently, also at the historic El Portal Theatre, the show was almost starting when a woman needed to take her seat in the middle of my row. She was so nice about it–she didn’t want to make us move, and was trying to think of what to do. I insisted that it\u2019s no big deal and made her go in, commenting to myself how rare it is to see someone that polite.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>When the show began, they immediately introduced the star of their next<\/em> production, sitting in the audience. It was that very same woman, Rita McKenzie, star of the upcoming one-woman show, Ethel Merman’s Broadway<\/em>! She was playing<\/em> a diva, but is far from acting like one in real life–how refreshing.<\/p>\n

So, I knew this <\/em>show had to be good, especially by the number of fans surrounding her at the opening night party for the former show. I looked forward to seeing her perform, and was not disappointed. I was so shocked that this tiny, pretty lady could transform herself into the larger-than-life, in every way, Ethel Merman! And her singing voice was spot-on! It knocked my socks off. She totally channeled La Merm. (Someone told me later that when Rita sings like herself, she sounds akin to Melissa Manchester.)<\/p>\n

I usually hate one-person shows–I just can\u2019t sit still for them. But this didn\u2019t have that feel at all. There was so much going on, in addition to Ms. McKenzie\u2019s amazing renditions of Ms. Merman\u2019s show stoppers. (If I closed my eyes, I could hear all my parents’ old show tune albums.)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Photos by Leigh Ann Rahn.<\/p><\/div>\n

The glue in-between musical numbers was the personal Ethel Merman stories, of her career, love life, family. There was a big screen behind her the whole time that had exactly the appropriate number of slides, as visual aids to her yarns. There was even a cameo appearance by a standard poodle. Granted, this dog was no Clarence, especially in the singing department, (she didn\u2019t even sing in this, a musical show!,) but even I<\/em> loved seeing her.<\/p>\n

Aside from the vocals as the obvious highlight of the show, I really enjoyed\u00a0all the\u00a0fun costumes. I assumed that Rita would wear one per act, but I was way wrong. She changed, with ease, for almost every number, courtesy of Eric Winterling, who also created the costumes for Wicked<\/em>. Some of his touches were brilliant, even to my modern fashion sensibility. My favorite was how she made her cocktail dress into a hostess outfit, but you\u2019ll have to see it for yourself.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an interesting (to me, anyway) long side note: I saw Ethel Merman’s Broadway <\/em>just two nights after seeing Rock Of Ages <\/em>last week. While I enjoyed them both, the juxtaposition boggled my mind–they were like night and day.<\/p>\n

Besides the obvious differences–one person and a 7-man orchestra, as opposed to about 25 actors and a 4-man rock band, also, coincidentally on-stage–the best difference to me was that we could make-out ever single word of the Ethel Merman songs!!! That\u2019s a feat I could not accomplish at the rock show. The only two things they had in common were talent and iconic songs, though of wholly different genres. And I guess that\u2019s all they each needed to be a success.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>A big bonus of being part of the opening night El Portal audience was getting to see the wonderful hostess of the show that night–Mitzi Gaynor! (For those of you who either aren\u2019t old enough to know of her, or don\u2019t watch old movies, like I do as much as possible, that\u2019s what Google is for.) I was just watching her 1958 classic, South Pacific<\/em>, with my mother, by phone. And, shockingly, she looks just the same! I guess not exactly, but pretty close. She was rocking a short skirt, fabulous turquoise jewelry, an ankle bracelet, and classic French-manicured nails. And telling some randy tales, to boot. We should all be like Mitzi at her age.<\/p>\n

And, in case you missed it in my previous reviews of this actual theatre<\/em>, I absolutely love it! It\u2019s the most comfortable theatre, on every level. If I ever get around to doing my one-woman show (don\u2019t worry–no singing on my part!,) that I\u2019ve been promising to do since the second year of my TV show, this would be the place. The audience is close enough to be intimate, but far enough away to still feel like you\u2019re on stage, if you\u2019re the performer. I even love the lobby!<\/p>\n

The opening night party was once again at the new Federal bar across the street, only now they\u2019re open for business, so the whole shindig was in the back. It\u2019s a perfect party venue.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>And it was a who\u2019s who of old school celebs, who\u2019ve all been around since before the current crop of young nobodies (like reality stars,) were even born. That\u2019s staying power! I saw my old pal, Richard Sherman, (who wrote most of the old-time Disney classics, such as Mary Poppins <\/em>and It\u2019s a Small World<\/em>,) Doris Roberts, Hal Linden, Earl Holliman, (who was on Police Woman <\/em>with my good friend Angie Dickinson back in the day,) Renee Taylor, Joe Bologna, Jane Withers,\u00a0 Mary Jo Catlett, George Chakiris, Tippi Hedren, and the still-more-beautiful-than-anyone Stefanie Powers. (She’s pictured at left, with George Chakiris.) I got to finally tell her that her cute mother used to call me after many of my telecasts to discuss my wardrobe! She was very gracious about my sharing that story with her, which is exactly how I pictured her to be.<\/p>\n

But even without the extras of a party and show business folk, seeing Rita McKenzie as Ethel Merman is a delightful way to spend an evening. And you better catch her before Broadway scoops her up, which I can see happening any time now.<\/p>\n

Ethel Merman\u2019s Broadway<\/em> running through February 27, 2011
\n5269 Lankershim Blvd. North Hollywood
\n818-508-4200 www.elportaltheatre.com<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ETHEL MERMAN\u2019S BROADWAY \u00a0 I just realized this is a very limited engagement show, so I\u2019m telling you up front that every student of musical theatre, and everyone who knows who Ethel Merman was, and every fan of an easy, entertaining evening must rush out and see it this week! Here\u2019s my background on it:<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-from-theater-to-events-to-the-circus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3205\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}