BRAVURA BELTING, BONDING, AND BONHOMIE
A double dose of old-school star power, show biz history, and charisma radiated through the showroom at 54 Below, fondly received and encouraged by a cheering, packed audience. The ladies have played the venue before with their solo acts, but when Lorna Luft and Andrea McArdle share the bill and share their memories, there’s a sense of occasion and the collective kilowatt level increases. Their engagement, titled Two of a Kind: From Hollywood to Broadway, as witnessed on April 5 (the second of two consecutive nights) evidenced the vibrant women in fine form, glam with a bit of ham, clearly giving fans some memory-massaging moments they lapped up.
Lorna Luft & Andrea McArdle
The opening slice of sly chat and song right after their joyful joint entrance was cute as they greeted the audience and, with faux awkwardness, pretended they’d been so busy that they hadn’t decided which of them would do a solo segment first. The prepared debate went like this: Alphabetical order by first name would order that it be one, while going by last name would turn the stage over to the other, so they agreed to leave it up to chance, via a coin toss. With their supposed fate – and the coin – in the hands of Colin Freeman, fine pianist/musical director of the band, the result was announced and the coin-tossing keyboard player’s brightly belting wife left the stage and Andrea McArdle, the other bubbling belter, was left to step right up and so her set first.
Lorna Luft
As strong as each woman’s solo-singing portion was, arguably the most rewarding and rapturously received numbers were when they combined forces again later. There was no clear indication of what percentage of the show would find them singing together, but there was no sense of major impatience as each held the stage and attention alone with strong material. Some of the fan fave fare could be expected, based on their past appearances, separately or together, including their stage-shared gig at the club in December. The Christmas songs however, were understandably not unwrapped for spring. Speaking of that most wonderful time of the year (the one we’re in), the mostly merry McArdle set included “It Might As Well Be Spring” (technically out of season in context of the plot and character situation it was written for in State Fair, but the revisit to her big ballad she sang in 1996’s stage version is always warmly welcomed). That was just a bit less than 20 years after her star-making emergence as the title character of Annie and that triumphant time as a teen was represented with the score’s “NYC” and – you guessed it — the optimism anthem “Tomorrow,” as well as an Annie anecdote about nearly missing her cue during a performance because she’d lost track of time when the starstruck star dashed out to a nearby restaurant for the chance to chat with Frank Sinatra.
Andrea McArdle
Although Lorna Luft’s work doesn’t always promise a pristine voice, it always promises pizzazz and promises material with personal connections. Promises, Promises, the Broadway musical she spent time starring in (as the second replacement) was mentioned, as was her fondness for its lyricist, Hal David. This led to a vibrant medley of nine songs, eight of which he wrote with composer Burt Bacharach. Kind of surprisingly, nothing penned for their aforementioned score was included, and ended with “That’s What Friends Are For,” for which Bacharach’s music was married to a lyric by the woman he was then married to, Carole Bayer Sager. But it made for a strong finish.
Lorna Luft & Andrea McArdle
And, speaking of strong finishes, when the two stars combined fabulous forces again for the home stretch and finale, friendship and fireworks were certainly felt. “Bosom Buddies” from Mame was retooled for them to present themselves as peeved and playful “Dueling Divas.” A McArdle career credit not referenced is that she’d played the title role in Mame and got to do this duet (with its standard lyric) with the formidable Lea DeLaria. An unmentioned post-Annie role was in the TV movie bio, Rainbow, portraying the young Judy Garland. But, inevitably, that name of Lorna Luft’s mother and the name of her sister, Liza Minnelli, are in the air, like the elephant in the room. And the show included the two memorable medleys that were in the Garland/Minnelli joint London Palladium concert, shortly after the same two pieces were done as duets on The Judy Garland Show TV series by Judy and the then-new star Barbra Streisand. The torch has been passed yet again, with Andrea McArdle joining joyfully with Lorna Luft for the counterpoint combo of “Get Happy” and “Happy Days Are Here Again” (which you may have seen as a Lorna/Liza duet in the Minnelli documentary shown on PBS this month). While numerous cabaret performers have gamely taken it on and end up being pale imitations, this pairing was primo. How could anyone NOT get happy? The two veterans raised the roof, which made it even more challenging to bring the ecstatic crowd down from their deliriously floating on the ceiling, making famed 54 Below no longer below street level.
Colin Freeman & Andrea McArdle
photos by Stephen Sorokoff
Web calendar for the venue at 54 Below
