By Andrew Poretz***Vocalist Klea Blackhurst is an old-school performer, a big belter with a big personality. (The Utah native created a course at the University of Utah called “Klea Blackhurst’s Old School.”) The actress, singer and comedienne utilizes all those skill sets in this award-winning homage to Ethel Merman: Klea 
Blackhurst – Everything the Traffic Will Allow. The show, which originated 23 years ago this month, kicked off her monthly residency at Chelsea Table + Stage on March 10. Everything the Traffic Will Allow follows Merman’s Broadway career, covering only songs she introduced on Broadway in some thirty years of stage stardom, excluding songs Merman introduced in movies.
The blue-eyed, red-haired Blackhurst, attired in a bright red dress, was accompanied by pianist/musical director Bruce Barnes, bassist Tom Hubbard, and drummer Aaron Russell. Following an overture, the show kicked off with a marvelous medley of “I Got Rhythm” (George Gershwin/Ira Gershwin), 
with special biographical lyrics, and “Johnny One Note” (Richard Rodgers/Lorenz Hart). The latter song featured the Merman trademark of an impossibly long note—“Holding one note was her ace!” Blackhurst, with great humor, told the story of how “Ethel Merman became Ethel Merman” when she introduced “I Got Rhythm” in Girl Crazy.
The star’s patter was first rate, her delivery entertaining and informative—and funny as hell. Blackhurst is a natural comic who easily induces belly laughs. While she does not do an impression of Merman, her powerful (and frankly, more pleasant) voice and style make her seem destined to sing these songs. Her rendition of “Blow, Gabriel Blow” (by Cole Porter, who preferred writing for Merman than anyone else), included the only “scat” the decidedly unjazzy Merman ever performed. Blackhurst transcribed this faithfully. Merman so impressed Porter that she was told to never get a voice lesson. Merman, whose idea of breath control on a long phrase was to simply take another breath, was asked, “Where do you breathe from?” Merman replied, “Necessity.”
Blackhurst took to a stool, close to the piano, to sing Porter’s comedic saloon song “Make It Another Old Fashioned, Please.” When one of the club’s servers passed by the stage, at just the right moment in the song, she called out, “WAITER!” He stopped to answer her, but it was just the irrepressible Blackhurst’s musical joke. In a three-song medley that included “This is It” (Arthur Schwartz/Dorothy Fields) and “Do I Love You” (Cole Porter), she delivered a beautiful and emotional “I Got Lost in His Arms” (Irving Berlin), with a surprisingly jazzy approach.
An especially lighthearted part of the evening came when Blackhurst brought out a ukulele for what she called an “Ethel Unplugged” segment, to perform “Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries” (Ray Henderson/Lew Brown), a song not generally associated with Merman, but nonetheless introduced by her in 1931. In a cute moment, when she momentarily forgot a lyric, her niece sang it to
her from the audience. A fun medley of somewhat Cole Porter songs from Something For the Boys had the trio singing an obligato part for the eponymous song, while Blackhurst sang the melody. Thankfully, this was not the version from Merman’s infamous, 1979 disco version.
A wonderful surprise came in the form of “Just a Moment Ago,” from Happy Hunting, a song Merman’s close friend Roger Edens, who knew her since he played in the pit from her very first show, wrote for her after Merman had two songs pulled from the musical. This number, a sensitive, introspective ballad, is unique in the Merman canon. Blackhurst sang it beautifully. Why this song is not a standard is somewhat puzzling.
No Ethel Merman tribute would be complete without Gypsy‘s “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” (Jule Styne/Stephen Sondheim), and Blackhurst delivered these roses spectacularly. Another great highlight came in the form of “World, Take Me Back,” one of two songs Jerry Herman wrote for Hello, Dolly! when he wrote the score with 
Merman in mind; it was cut from the show when Carole Channing, with a limited range, took the part when the then-retired Merman turned it down. When Merman relented seven years later as the show’s final star in its original run, she asked Herman about these songs. Herman squeezed them back into the show for her, making them the last songs introduced by Merman on Broadway. This number fits perfectly with the rest of the score, and it made for a great finale.
A well-deserved standing ovation brought Blackhurst back for an exciting encore, “There’s No Business Like Show Business” (Irving Berlin).
Blackhurst returns to Chelsea Table + Stage on April 14 to continue what she calls the “Klea Blackhurst Box Set” residency, each month reprising a different show from her decades as an acclaimed cabaret star. Tickets for the next show, Autumn In New York: Vernon Duke’s Broadway, are available here.
Photos by Andrew Poretz
