Frederick White’s Birthday Celebration Proved “He’s 70 and Can Still…”

By Bart Greenberg***The charming Frederick M. White celebrated a landmark birthday with his newest show, I’m 70 and I Can Still … at the Laurie Beechman Theatre. Defying the passage of time, he celebrated his life and experiences in a spritely manner. In fact, defiance was one of the themes of this loosely structured evening: White is out and proud and to show it, he kicked off the fun with a “Pride Medley” of “I Gotta Be Me” (Walter Marks) and “I Am What I Am” (Jerry Herman). He also spent time speaking of his views about what is primarily missing in today’s world: love (“Gimme Gimme” – Jeanine Tesori, Dick Scanlan)) and kindness (“We Can Be Kind” – David Friedman)).

White’s defiance even came through in the romantic ballads he favored, when he announced with humor, zthat in some cases he changed the pronouns in the numbers because “he’s 70, he’s gay and he can!” Using his mellow tenor and relaxed manner, he scored with such songs as the glistening “The Nearness of You” (Hoagy Carmichael, Ned Washington) and the filled with longing “Someone to Watch Over Me” (George and Ira Gershwin). He displayed bittersweet humor with “I’d Order Love” (Alan Zachary, Michael Weiner) and happy memories of his moving to New York City many years ago with “What More Do I Need?” (Stephen Sondheim).

The excellent Michael Ferrari partnered with White as his music director and arranger. He offered a fine smooth jazz interim of the Gershwin number, and even better, a sterling solo on Sondheim’s “Another Hundred People,” which displayedhis fine singing voice as well as his skill at negotiating the rapid music.

White showed his fine acting abilities with a beautifully delivered “Nothing” (Marvin Hamlisch, Edward Kleban) and some surprisingly emotional numbers such as “Proud of Your Boy” (Alan Menken, Howard Ashman). Throughout, his theater skills were apparent in his use of the entire stage, and his mid-show costume change, when he shed his jacket and shirt to reveal a purple t-shirt celebrating his age. One can anticipate what he’ll do for his 71st birthday.