Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Musical theater lyricist and book writer BILL RUSSELL walks down memory lane with some of his favorite divas

• By drediman
• October 1, 2024
• No Comments

Last night at Birdland Jazz Club, I had the great privilege of attending a delightful one-night-only show hosted by Bill Russell — the thoughtful musical theater lyricist and book writer who is perhaps best known for penning the words for the Tony-nominated musical Side Show — who walked down memory lane accompanied by some of his favorite divas. Appropriately entitled Divas I Love Singing Songs I Wrote, the intimate evening of cabaret regailed the sold out audience with stories about and songs from the eclectic musicals co-written by Russell over the course of his long career.

The show began with Alice Ripley’s sensitive rendition of the title number from the song cycle Elegies For Angels, Punks and Raging Queens. Later on, the Tony-winning actress dug deep to produce a bruised solo version of “Who Will Love Me As I Am” from Side Show (Ripley originated the central role of Violet in the original 1997 production of the cult musical). The evening also featured two alums from the 2014 Broadway revival of Side Show, Erin Davie (also cast as Violet) and the big-voiced Charity Angél Dawson (who can currently be seen in & Juliet). Davie sang the little-heard title song from Side Show — the lovely song was cut from the musical and has never been recorded — as well as an exuberant “Banking on Jesus” from Pageant. Best of all, however, was her poignant performance of “My Brother Lived In San Francisco” from Elegies, which segued beautifully to the evening’s standout number, a deeply-felt “in memoriam” number called “Your Show Is Going On” which was first performed at an Easter Bonnet Competition for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. The number was urgently sung by Dawson, who wielded her powerful instrument with authority. The performance was especially wrenching given the tragic passing of beloved Tony-winning actor Gavin Creel (with whom Dawson starred in Waitress) just earlier that day. Stepping in last minute for an ailing Lillias White was Christiane Noll, who starred in Russell’s Off-Broadway musical Kept, bringing down the house with a sassy number from the 2002 show.

Throughout, the 75-year-young Russell was in amiable spirit, and his natural knack for storytelling gave the whole affair a wonderful sense of cohesion and warm nostalgia. His rapport with his four divas was both touching and a joy to behold, as was his intent gaze upon them while each held the spotlight in song. Suffice to say, the love and mutual respect that flowed between them was palpable. By the time the evening came to a close with a heartfelt collective rendition of “I Will Never Leave You” (again from Side Show), I could hear sniffles rippling through the audience. Mark Hartman led handily from the piano (the music director also brought levity to the evening by singing a number from Russell’s early musical Fortune), while Jeff Potter and John Loehrke assisted marvelously on drums and bass, respectively.

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BILL RUSSELL: DIVAS I LOVE SINGING SONGS I WROTE
Cabaret
Birdland Jazz Club
1 hour, 15 minutes (without an intermission)
One-night-only