Rita McKenzie: Ethel Merman’s Broadway

Ron Forman | December 15, 2015

Rita McKenzie

Ethel Merman’s Broadway

Feinstein’s/54 Below, NYC, December 12, 2015

Reviewed by Ron Forman for Cabaret Scenes

Rita McKenzie not only looked and sounded like Ethel Merman, she actually had me believing that she was Ethel. I felt I was watching Merman telling the audience how she wanted a movie about her life to be filmed.The seven-piece orchestra, directed by David Snyder, that backed McKenzie created the illusion that the numbers were being performed on a Broadway stage. The device of planning a movie biography allowed McKenzie to recount stories and anecdotes of Merman’s life in a very entertaining manner.

McKenzie opened with a rousing—then again, as Merman, almost every number was rousing—“Gee, But It’s Good to Be Here” from Happy Hunting. McKenzie (I almost was tempted to write Merman, that is how strong her portrayal of Merman was) spoke about her debut in Girl Crazy singing “I Got Rhythm.” Two songs from Anything Goes—the title song and “I Get a Kick Out of You”—preceded a touching story about visiting Cole Porter in the hospital after his accident of falling off a horse, ending with a moving “Let’s Be Buddies.” McKenzie changed into western garb for a medley of seven of the hits from Annie Get Your Gun. The entire audience joined in singing “There’s No Business Like Show Business.”

Recalling the experiences of playing “The Hostess with the Mostes’ on the Ball,” Sally Adams (a fictionalized character based on Perle Mesta), McKenzie sang the delightful counterpoint duet “You’re Just in Love”/”I Wonder Why” with musical director Snyder. One more costume change led to memories of Gypsy, which opened with McKenzie singing “Some People” which brought a standing ovation from the SRO crowd. The death of Merman’s daughter caused her to refuse the role of Dolly Levi, which she eventually played, and McKenzie performed one off the two songs written for Merman, but not included in the score of Hello, Dolly! until she played the part: “World, Take Me Back.” Of course, the show closed with “Everything Coming Up Roses.”

Tags: American Songbook, Annie Get Your Gun, Anything Goes, Broadway Musicals, Cabaret, Cabaret Reviews, Cabaret Scenes, CD, Clubs, Cole Porter, Composers, David Snyder, Dolly Levi, Ethel Merman, Ethel Merman’s Broadway, Everything Coming Up Roses, Feinstein’s/54 Below, Gee But It’s Good to Be Here, Girl Crazy, Great American Songbook, Gypsy, Happy Hunting, Hello Dolly, I Get a Kick Out of You, I Got Rhythm, I Wonder Why, Jazz, Jazz Singers, Let’s Be Buddies, lyricists, Musicals, Musicians, Nightclubs, NYC, Perle Mesta, Popular Song, Revues, Rita McKenzie, Ron Forman, Show Tunes, Singers, Some People, Songbook, Standards, Supper Clubs, The Hostess with the Mostes’ on the Ball, There’s No Business Like Show Business, Venues, Vocalists, World Take Me Back, You’re Just in Love