By Marilyn Lester****She’s definitely one of the girls—a top girl in the world of Jerry Herman. Klea Blackhurst debuted her new solo show, One of the Girls—The Words and Music of Jerry Herman at Birdland Jazz club and succeeded in putting on a master class of cabaret delights. Blackhurst was on fire, and thanks to her own native talent and the capable folks who supported her—director Mark Waldrop and The Pocket Change Trio: music director/arranger/pianist Michael Rice, bassist Ray Kilday and percussionist Aaron Russell—she easily could have charmed the husk right off of the corn.
Blackhurst has a natural affinity for Herman’s work, which she discovered in high school. She’s had the good fortune to not only sing the canon (including playing Dolly Levi) but to meet Herman, who declared himself to be one of her greatest fans. Both have a love and appreciation of the showtune, the song that can stand alone and have meaning outside of the context of its show. Herman was a champ at writing those. To demonstrate, she compared two thematic showtunes, Irving Berlin’s “What’ll I Do?” from the 1923 Music Box Revue and “Time Heals Everything” from Mack & Mabel. In both she told the story with interpretive skill, an ability Blackhurst has honed as she’s traveled the path of her career.
Being possessed of a big Mermanesque voice, there have always been two challenges for a singer such as Blackhurst. The first was to embrace her inner Merman in her without becoming a carbon copy (she has) and the second was to learn how to control the natural big belt and the proclivity to use it. This too she has worked on and conquered. In One of the Girls, Blackhurst has given one of her most nuanced performances yet. Her interpretations of “I Don’t Want to Know” (Dear World) and “I’ll Be Here Tomorrow” (The Grand Tour) were especially subtle. Most noteworthy of all was “I Am What I Am” (La Cage aux Folles), which has become a monotonic anthem for the most part. Her rendition was an anti-anthem—shaded and packed full of meaning.
What is always fun about Blackhurst is her quickness. The delivery of the narrative is very naturalistic, full of reminiscence, facts and repartee—even with herself! It so happened, she went up several times and proceeded as if she’d meant to do it all along. Masterfully, Blackhurst provided “this is how it’s done, kids” moments in embracing her mistakes rather than becoming embarrassed by them. It helps too that the singer has a knack for comedy; her timing is as spot-on as the material. “For me, she quips (by way of example) all musical comedy roads lead to Ethel Merman.” This line was essentially the set up for the song “World, Take Me Back,” written expressly for Merman, which she sang with superb, heartfelt depth. When Merman ultimately said no to playing Dolly Levi, the song was cut and replaced by Blackhurst’s encore, “Before the Parade Passes By.” Eventually Ethel Merman did play Dolly in Hello, Dolly and insisted on singing both numbers, which, of course, told the same story.
As for the Pocket Change Trio, the three musicians partnered with the star to offer earnest musical delight. Arrangements by music director Rice were creative and added texture to Blackhurst’s vocals. Rice added a touch of swing to Hello, Dolly‘s “Put On Your Sunday Clothes,” for instance, and transformed “I Don’t Want to Know” into a sweeping waltz. His piano style added lush abundance to every number. Integrating beautifully with his mode of play was the melodic bass of Kilday, especially evident in “It Only Takes a Moment” (Hello, Dolly). The drumming and percussive skills of Russell were on full display in Mame‘s “We Need a Little Christmas.” In sum, One of the Girls had us “soaking up life down to our toes.”
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