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REVIEW: Ethel Merman's Broadway
The Gem Theatre
From the New Monitor
Gem show brings Merman back to life
By Robert Delaney
Ethel Merman may be gone from this world, but she comes back to life every time Rita McKenzie takes the stage of downtown Detroit's Gem Theatre in her one-woman show Ethel Merman's Broadway.
McKenzie does a terrific impersonation of Merman -- both visually and vocally -- and she's the Merman I remember from seeing her do guest shots on television back in the mid-1950s and through the 1960s, or from her memorable non-singing performance in the early-1960s comedic classic, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.
As McKenzie belts out hit after hit -- I Got Rhythm, Anything Goes, I Get a Kick Out of You, There's No Business Like Show Business, Everything's Coming Up Roses and others -- it's easy to see why Merman was called "the queen of Broadway."
And backed up by a great seven-piece on-stage band led by David Snyder at the keyboard, the numbers have the feel of the Broadway blockbusters they were in their time.
McKenzie tells Merman's story as Merman, from her humble beginnings in New York's Queens through her early career in the 1930s in leading roles in George Gershwin and Cole Porter musicals, then later working with Irving Berlin, and her not always successful forays into movie work, as well as her four marriages.
She tells of the early 1950s dry spell in her career, followed by the phenomenal success in Gypsy and later in Hello, Dolly. And she does it all with a flair and style that bespeak considerable study of Merman's speech and facial characteristics by herself and co-writer and director Christopher Powich.
And McKenzie has played this show in a number of other cities, from New York to California, so we're seeing a pretty well-polished product here in Detroit.
Merman may have been a bigger star to people now past 60 than to those of us yet to reach that milestone, but I can't imagine anyone enjoying this show any more than I did.
Ethel Merman, as a person, holds a more affectionate place in my heart now that I have seen this show and know more of her story. Plus I have a greater appreciation for the tremendous talent that she most certainly was.
All of which leads up to this advice: Don't just buy tickets for your folks or grandparents. Go with them, and enjoy McKenzie's Merman, even if you never experienced the original. (Although with YouTube.com, it's pretty easy to get a taste of Merman to whet your appetite.)
SHOW DETAILS:
"Ethel Merman's Broadway" continues through Nov. 21 at the Gem Theatre, 333 Madison Avenue at Brush in downtown Detroit. For performance and ticket information, call 313-963-9800 or access www.gemtheatre.com.
Reprinted with permission of the New Monitor, Sept. 17, 2009
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