Neile Adams: Neile Adams Sings Kander & Ebb
Neile Adams
Neile Adams Sings Kander & Ebb
Catalina Jazz Club, Hollywood, CA, June 16, 2016
Reviewed by Les Traub for Cabaret Scenes
Photo: Ryder Sloane
Neile Adams and Kander & Ebb are a good match. As a singing and dancing Broadway star, Adams knows her way around show tunes. Although the Catalina stage is not meant for dancing, it did provide enough room for her to do a step or two and display some Fosse hand and arm movements. Her opening number, “All That Jazz,” featured the Fosse moves, complete with black hat. She slid into the Kander & Ebb groove at the outset with this number and kept it going throughout the show.
She established her own personal connection to the songwriters by describing her early contact with John Kander. He was the rehearsal pianist for The Pajama Game while she was in a starring role. They connected again when she was in the cast of At the Grand, the first attempt to make a musical of Grand Hotel, and Kander did dance arrangements for the show. Weaving her own story between songs and giving context to them and sketching the career of Kander & Ebb, she packed a lot of material into a fast-moving show.
As a dancer, she was able to bring a strong rhythmic sense to the numbers. Her matching the songs to her own life was particularly effective on “Marry Me,” which she paired with a commentary on her meeting and marrying Steve McQueen. Her close friendship with Gwen Verdon, starting well before either of them became stars, became another fascinating story paired with “Roxie.”
A well-chosen mix of the familiar and some lesser-known Kander & Ebb material provided a good balance. Her long-time support team of Musical Director Andy Howe and director Ted Sprague know how to showcase her in the best possible light, as they proved again in this show.
Category: Cabaret Reviews, Los Angeles, Regional
