By Marilyn Lester***To know the work of vocalist Renee Katz is to understand that her well of creativity goes deep into realms untrod in the usual way. Her approach to music is sensitive, sophisticated, smart and authentic. In her new 
show, Irving Berlin: Lost in His Arms, Katz revealed a side of Berlin in an entirely new way. Berlin was essentially a melodist, contributing hundreds of tunes to the Great American Songbook over his 101 years, active from 1907 to 1971. A Russian-born immigrant named Israel Beilin, he became Irving Berlin, a true patriot who loved his adopted country, and was often referred to as “America’s songwriter.”
Katz touched on those popular songs, but also took a deeper dive into the Berlin catalog. And what she created was a whole new approach: with very little narrative, she wove the well-chosen Berlin songs of her set into a song cycle. With her accompanist-music director, the orchestral Christopher Marlowe, the approach was perfectly suited to the classical training of both. Katz opened with the title song, “Lost in Your Arms” (Annie Get Your Gun, 1946) with a vocal tone and range that called to mind Barbara Cook.
There were quite a few pairings: “Reaching for the Moon” from the 1930 film of the same name, with a popular 
stand-alone tune from 1911, “Yiddisha Nightengale, sung partly in Yiddish, which hearkened back to Berlin’s Jewish roots on the Lower East Side, and also featured a charming interaction with bassist Ritt Henn. Another sweet duet with Henn came with “Play a Simple Melody” (1914) paired with “An Old-Fashioned Tune Always Is New” (Second Fiddle, 1939). Two early Berlin tunes, from 1918 and 1913 were paired, demonstrating Berlin’s love of country—”God Bless America” (which remained unpublished until 1938)—in Yiddish! and “We Have Much to Be Thankful For.”
A tip of Fred Astaire’s top hat went to a dance medley created by Marlowe for the late singer Nancy LaMott (whose career was cut short by illness at age 43). Included were popular tunes “Cheek to Cheek” (Top Hat, 1935) and “Puttin’ on the Ritz” 
(1927 and Puttin’ on the Ritz, 1930) and more. As Lost in His Arms began to come to its conclusion, Marlowe began “Till This Crazy World Is Sane Again,” an unpublished Berlin lyric he set to music, then handing the mic over to Katz who delivered “It’s a Lovely Day Tomorrow” (Louisiana Purchase, 1940).
Bookending with the statement song, “The Song Is Ended” (1927). Lost in His Arms was ably directed by Jeff Harnar, whose deft hand ensured the melody would absolutely linger on. In this delightful and inspiring show, Katz’s Berlin song cycle was ultimately about memory and remembrance, dedicated to a loving father who had recently passed—but still with a clear eye to the possibilities of the future.
Photos by Natasha Castillo; for more images, click here.
