By Bart Greenberg***A top flight cast (including some from the original production) paid tribute to the musical Coco at 54 Below, in a continuation of the stylish series produced and hosted by Charles Kirsch with music director Michael Lavine. Speaking of style, many of the soloists donned glamorous timeless clothes to add to the ambience of the tribute to the famed French designer Coco Chanel. It was a role performed by the fabled Katharine Hepburn in her only musical venture (the production costumier wanted another Hepburn: Audrey, not Kate). With a score by Alan Jay Lerner 
and Andre Previn, the show was a very high-profile project that didn’t really live up to its hype. This concert may have shown that the contents were not anyone’s finest works, but the flare of the performers raised the songs above their settings. With a very wise and brief plot summary, Kirsch also offered some delightful trivia throughout the evening.
The highly romantic and seductive Ben Jones offered two of the loveliest songs in the show, “But That’s the Way You Are” and “Let’s Go Home”, and gave them full value. Hepburn’s introductory number, “The World Belongs to the Young,” was delivered with elan by Josie De Guzman, and was cleverly followed by the composition it replaced, “Turn On the Lights,” sung by Sara Gettelfinger. Both songs well-established the character, but the final work was probably the better choice. After these vocal performances, our host got to have a delightful conversation with original cast member Jean Preece, who was a standby for 12 of the 24 female dancers.
The elegant Isabel Keating (with an assist from Jay Aubrey Jones) zeroed in on the wit within the lyrics of two patter songs: “Mademoiselle Cliche de Paris” and “On the Corner of the Rue Cambon.” Surprisingly, Jane Summerhays evoked Hepburn’s old friend Lauren Bacall with her delivery of the triumphant “The Money Rings Out Like Freedom.” After these hard-driven numbers, it was a pleasure to hear the sweet and charming Britney Coleman deliver the sweet and charming “A Brand New Dress.” After all of these strong women, it was an invigorating change for AJ Shively to bring a macho energy to “A Woman Is How She Loves.”
Next was something very different. Impressionist Steven Brinberg left Barbra (as in Streisand) home for the evening to channel his inner Kate, perfectly capturing her spirit (and intonations) with “Gabrielle,” sharing the stage with a wonderful Lenny Wolpe for an especially touching evening. Topping this rendition with emotional impact was the other member of the original cast, Penny Worth, gowned in an exquisite dress, beautifully offering up the title song. Broadway star Brad Oscar brought all his considerable scenery-chewing talents to the very campy, borderline offensive, cut, “Fiasco.” A second cut song, “Someone on Your Side” couldn’t be rescued by a radiant Ali Ewoldt; sometimes songs are cut for good reasons. The tuneful energy of the presentation was brought up again with Adam Grupper’s gentle and moving “When Your Lover Says Goodbye,” a Lerner lyric similar to his “I’m Glad I’m Not Young Any More” (Gigi). Paula Leggett Chase, Jay Aubrey Jones and Neal Mayer did what they could with the rather desperate comedy number, “Orbach’s Bloomingdale’s, Best and Saks,” a fully staged moment.
To bring the evening to a close, the incandescent Christine Andreas brought her authority and gorgeous voice for the climatic “Always Mademoiselle,” enhanced even further by the symphonic piano work of Lavine and videos of the original production. Kirsch deserves his plaudits for this beautifully produced concert.
All photos by Bart Greenberg
