At MetroStage,
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By Nelson Pressley
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Good singer, great talker: That’s
how Roz White plays Pearl Bailey in the highly personable tribute cabaret “Pearl
Bailey … by Request.”
"Don't work too
hard, honey," White's Bailey deadpans to a co-star midway through a
characteristically winsome rendition of "Ain't
She Sweet." "It's not a whole lot of money."
White soft-pedals it
herself, gracefully mimicking Bailey's trademark low, mellow tones while
dropping wisecracks between the lyrics. The patter is nearly nonstop, with
White-as-Bailey punning and joking about everything from love to footwear. (Her
fancy heels are too tight: "These are just my one-hour shoes," White
explains as she kicks them off for a spell.)
This sort of
laid-back bio-cabaret has become the house specialty at MetroStage,
and White -- who conceived of the show and wrote the slim book with Thomas W.
Jones II -- keeps Bailey's professional face front and center. The black
entertainer's life and times are skimmed, not explored, so comments about her
marriage to white drummer Louis Bellson or winning
the Medal of Freedom feel like tossed-off facts.
Luckily, this
drive-by info (70 minutes, directed with warm efficiency by Shirley Basfield Dunlap) comes with a nice songbook. White draws
extensively from Bailey's "16 Most Requested Songs" album, including
earnest versions of the Bailey signature ballads "Tired" and
"Here You Come With Love." The four-piece
band onstage swings lightly (drummer Greg Holloway uses brushes more often than
sticks), and while the musicianship is generally fine, White's Bailey is more
vibrant whenever she partners with more than just a tune.
Enter William
Hubbard, who joins White for happy re-creations of Bailey's duets with
bandleader Hot Lips Page. Hubbard and White nail the playful banter while
maneuvering stylishly through the light choreography in "The Hucklebuck" and "Baby, It's
Cold Outside."
At another point,
White conscripts an audience member to join her for "Takes Two to
Tango," landing laughs with her running commentary as they sashay
together. White works Bailey's terrain well, and the old-school showbiz
hospitality is hard to resist.
Pearl Bailey ...
by Request, concept by Roz White, book by White and Thomas W. Jones II. Directed by Shirley Basfield Dunlap.
Music director, Marvin Ford; lights, Jessica Lee Winfield.
About 70 minutes. Through Nov. 9 at MetroStage,