By Andrew Gans
Audiences and critics will likely have the same reaction to Marcovicci's newest cabaret act, Blue Champagne: The History of the Torch Song, which she describes as a "very yin-yang show. It's either very hilariously funny or very tragic, and it allows me to go back to my roots as a singer, because when I first started, I was really investigating the torch song. So it's a tribute to Ruth Etting and Libby Holman and Helen Morgan and my own mother, Helen, and in some ways it's reinvestigating myself and why I wanted to sing in the first place." And, yes, her 91-year-old mother, Helen Marcovicci, will make select Thursday-night appearances at the Algonquin. "As a matter of fact, she just asked me, 'Andrea, what song do you want me to sing at the encore?' 'Well, I think "Blue Prelude" would be appropriate, Mum.' . . . I heard that [song] when I was five. She's very well featured in the storyline of this show because growing up with a torch singer in the house is not exactly easy!"
When asked how she believes her cabaret performances have changed over the past two decades, Marcovicci answers, "My sheer comfort level and my ability to absorb distraction or, as I say when I'm teaching, 'embrace distraction,' [has increased]. My humor – I was never anywhere near as funny when I started. I took it all very seriously. But my love for audiences hasn't changed. If anything, it's just grown and grown and grown. My actual, just sheer embracing of the audience, that I'm so glad that they're there, so glad we share this great music and that we don't allow the history of the music to die. Because it's not just about the songs, it's about where did they come from and how did they develop. It's a very important part of what I do to keep the history of the music alive."
But, for now, Marcovicci is focused on the weekend concert stagings of Coco. "Nobody's done Coco, nobody has plans to revive it, so this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity chance to see a lost show, and I think it's just divine," the gifted chanteuse concludes. "I'm so moved by this piece, and it's certainly not just about a bunch of dresses. And that's what's nice when you do something in Mufti, when you strip away everything and you see, 'Oh, this is about the lines and the emotions, it's about the words.' It's wonderful."
10 Sep 2010
[Marcovicci will play the Algonquin Nov. 16-Dec. 30. The Oak Room of the Algonquin Hotel is located at 59 West 44th Street. For reservations call (212) 419-9331 or (212) 840-6800 and ask for Oak Room Reservations.]
Well, that's all for now. Happy diva-watching! E-mail questions or comments to agans@playbill.com.
