Wow! What an experience. Managing Director Lauren Hewitt and I have spent the past week in New York at a Marketing and Development conference for nerdy art administrators (it was more fun than it sounds) and it has been quite a time. There wasn’t been a lot of time for shows, but Lauren and I did get a chance to see our favorite “Madam,” Klea Blackhurst, at the Snapple Theater doing Everything the Traffic Will Allow: the Songs and Sass of Ethel Merman and I’m here to tell you, she blew the doors off the joint!
First off, we came to NY just in time for some of the worst weather they’ve seen in years, it was cold, rainy, and the wind… oh the wind… I lost two umbrellas in two days! Anyway, the point is, as cold and rainy as it was, there was nothing but sunshine coming from that stage.
The Snapple Theater is a tiny shoebox; in fact, it’s the home of the Fantasticks. This turned out to be a good thing, because the sound went out just before the show started and Klea had to perform the entire evening un mic’d . For most performers this would be disaster! “What no mic? I can’t go on. They won’t be able to hear me! How will I hit those Webber high notes? Nope, can’t be done, send everyone home.”
Not Klea.
Strode on the stage without a care in the world and launched into her first number.
OH MY GOD, what an absolute delight! Just like our own shows, nothing but purity of voice and clarity of emotion. Don’t worry Mama Rose—I mean Ethel—she sang out!
I’m not going to review the show song by song, I want all of you to be surprised when you come see her April 21 thru April 25. But I did get a chance to talk to Klea after the show and she had a little message for all of you!
So come check it out for yourself. Klea Blackhurst returns to the Eureka Theater for a one-week direct from broadway engagement of Everything the Traffic Will Allow: the Songs and Sass of Ethel Merman. April 21-25, all shows start at 8pm, except Sunday April 25 starts at 3pm. Click here for tickets, or call (415) 255-8207.
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