By Marilyn Lester***Cabaret tribute shows can be tricky—the task is for the creator to find a balance between inhabiting the persona of the honoree while maintaining an identity of self. In Dawn Derow Sings Eydie Gormé—her Feninstein’s/54 Below debut— the singer captured the career of a legendary performer to the proverbial “T.”
In advance of inevitable questions about the wig, Derow headed all off at the pass with a “best defense is a good offense.” And good for Derow for jumping into that potential quagmire right after her rousing opening number of “I’ve Heard That Song Before/This Could Be the Start of Something Big” (Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn/Steve Allen). For there she stood in a black wig, a la Eydie. “Why am I wearing this wig,” she posed—the appropriate question since she wasn’t playing the role of Eydie, as in a play. The answer put the question to rest. For Derow the gesture was inspirational, a personal means of calling up the soul and essence of the late recording star.
Eydie Gormé (born Edith Gormezano),1928 – 2013) was a huge star in her day, singing solo and with her husband, Steve Lawrence (still with us today) on albums, television and Broadway and in Las Vegas. Because she grew up in a multilingual household, she had a command of language, including Ladino and Spanish. This facility led to Gormé’s entering the Latin/mambo craze of the 1950s. In both Spanish and English, Derow skillfully executed a set of Latin songs including the swaying “Frenesi” (Alberto Dominguez) and one of Gormés mega-hits, “Blame It on the Bossa Nova” (Cynthia Weil, Barry Mann), which earned her the first of 
her Grammy Award nominations. This roster of Latin gems brought drummer Daniel Glass to the fore, with his inventive and adept command of Latin rhythms.
Well into Dawn Derow Sings Eydie Gormé it was apparent that Derow’s admiration of her subject ran deep, and with authenticity. And because Gormé had a rich vocal tone and favored big belt finishes, soprano Derow had to adapt her own delivery to meet the challenge of channeling Gormé without being a carbon copy. In so doing, dramatic numbers such as “If He Walked Into My Life” (Jerry Herman) were delivered to perfection, along with approaching Gormé’s interpretive skills with emotive songs such as “If I Fell For You” (Buddy Johnson).
Honoring the long marriage and musical partnership of Gormé with Lawrence, show director Jeff Harnar took the stage for duets in the “Steve and Eydie” mode. Serendipitously, Harnar made a swell Steve in his own look and vocal delivery. What could possibly come to mind other than, “gosh, what a cute couple!” If the proof of the pudding is in the eating, the vocals that followed, from a rousing “Bei Mire Bistu Shein” (Adapted by Sammy Cahn, Saul Chaplin) to a heartfelt medley of “Golden Rainbow/I Gotta Be Me” (Walter Marks), served the iconic team well.
“How do you sum up a career?” Derow asked as her show neared its conclusion—a good question where a huge legacy is involved. Eydie Gormé in her lifetime released 40 solo albums and 32 duo albums. That’s a level of cultural importance that’s pretty stunning. By the end of the set, with a perky Latinized version of “Gypsy in My Soul” (Clay Boland, Moe Jaffe), Derow had succeeded in delivering the essential essence of Eydie Gormé. This is a testament that can’t be underestimated. In the many years since Gormé’s heyday, and in the almost decade of her passing, the number of people who have firsthand knowledge of the star continues to diminish. Derow has constructed a musical snapshot of Eydie that serves to keep her life and achievements alive and well in our time.
In addition to Glass on drums, Steve Doyle anchored the musical numbers on bass. At the piano was music director Ian Herman, whose animated playing and emotive investment in the show was a joy to observe as well as hear.
Photos by Matt Baker
