TRU TO ELLA
posted by James Reel
Two stage entertainments snag my attention in the current Tucson Weekly. First, Ella Fitzterald has been resurrected at the Temple of Music and Art:
Last spring, a friend of mine was exasperated when he heard that Arizona Theatre Company would present Ella, a show in which an actress pretends to be Ella Fitzgerald in song and reminiscence. One of his objections echoed my longtime complaint that throwing a couple of singers and some musicians on stage for a survey of somebody's hits makes a nice cabaret show, but it ain't dramatic theater.The full review can be found here. There’s also a new Beowulf Alley show in town:
My friend's greater protest, though, was that it was foolish for anyone to try to be Ella. We've got decades' worth of her classic jazz vocal recordings, a fair amount of video footage and not-yet stale memories of what the singer was really like. What's the point of trotting out an Ella impersonator?
My indignant friend will probably continue to boycott ATC's Ella even if I tell him that the show is not just a cabaret toss-off tribute. Jeffrey Hatcher's script may be sketchy and rely on biographical truthiness more than facts, but it serves its purpose, and star Tina Fabrique is terrifically entertaining.
Beowulf Alley Theatre Company, which prides itself on being "daring and distinctive," has gone soft for the holidays. Heartwarming, even. The company is presenting Truman Capote's Holiday Memories, which is a welcome break from the usual Christmas Carol/Messiah/Nutcracker fare. Unfortunately, the production is not all it could be.Read the rest here.
Literally. Holiday Memories, adapted from Capote stories by Russell Vandenbroucke, is in two parts, one covering Thanksgiving and the other revolving around Christmas. Beowulf Alley has elected to present only the second part, which is called A Christmas Memory, and that makes for a very short evening--you're out in less than an hour.
Less literally, the production is not all it could be insofar as it lacks the free, easy flow of true memories. It might be tightened up later in the run, but on opening night, the seams showed.
