ScheckOnCulture

In the “better late than never” category, 77-year-old Shirley Jones made her nightclub debut Tuesday night at Feinstein’s at Loews Regency. The Oscar-winning (Elmer Gantry) movie, theater, and TV veteran, beloved for her four year stint in The Partridge Family, sang many of the songs from the movie and Broadway musicals in which she’s appeared.

Jones’s voice has deepened and no longer possesses the lustrous quality it once had, but she’s still capable of hitting the requisite high notes. And the technical deficiencies were made up for by the sheer nostalgia factor of hearing her sing such songs as “Till There Was You” and “Seventy Six Trombones” from The Music Man; “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’,” “Out of My Dreams” and the title tune from Oklahoma!; and “You’ll Never Walk Alone” from Carousel.

Sadly, the baby boomers in attendance were not treated to any Partridge Family numbers, save for a brief snippet from “Come On, Get Happy.”

Performing in front of a crowd that included John Gotti, Jr. and his sister Victoria (Jones’ husband, Marty Ingels, is producing an upcoming bio-pic about their father, starring John Travolta), the singer was in entertainingly chatty form throughout, regaling the crowed with numerous anecdotes about her life and career. She talked about her first husband, the late Jack Cassidy, and Ingals, about whom she said “after 24 years, I’m still laughing; her unrequited love for actor Richard Widmark; and the time Stephen Sondheim told her that “Send in the Clowns” was “the biggest piece of crap I’ve ever written.”  

Feinstein’s at Loews Regency, 540 Park Ave. 212-339-4095. www.Feinsteinsatloewsregency.com.

Helena Blackman's debut solo CD The Sound of Rodgers and Hammerstein has recently been released by Speckulation Entertainment. The 12-track recording features the singer delivering such classics as "I Enjoy Being a Girl," "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair," "Some Enchanted Evening," and "Climb Every Mountain." In addition, Jonathan Ansell and Daniel Boys join Blackman for duets of "I Have Dreamed" and "People Will Say We're in Love," respectively.

Blackman may be best known as runner-up from the BBC's reality show How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?. Her stage credits include a UK tour of Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific, and the West End première of Stephen Sondheim's Saturday Night. as well as The Wizard of Oz and Gypsy, among others.

Recently, Blackman agreed to do a quick Q&A for ScheckOnTheArts to talk about the disc:

ScheckOnTheArts: Do you remember the first time you heard a Rodgers and Hammerstein song or saw an R&H musical?
Helena Blackman: I can't remember which one it was. I remember watching The Sound of Music, The King and I, and Carousel but I'm not sure which one was first.

SOA: Asking you to pick a favorite song on the disc is a bit like asking a parent to pick a favorite child, so in lieu of that, am curious if there is one song on there that speaks to you more personally or deeply than the others.
HB: Hmmm. 'I Have Confidence', certain lines in that, particularly "I must stop these doubts all these worries". The song is very appropriate for my journey through my career so far, wanting to be positive and learning how to be. 'It might as well be spring', is lyrically wonderful. So many images conjured up and comparisons to everyday things, it's so descriptive and it's a joy as an actress to play these in my mind.

SOA: What are the R&H songs that "got away" on the disc? The one(s) that you wish there had been room/time for?
HB: 'You'll Never Walk Alone' is the one that always springs to mind. It's epic but so is Climb Every Mountain. It made more sense to use 'Mountain' but I think the other speaks to me a little more.

SOA: The orchestrations on the disc are particularly fresh. What can you say about their genesis? How much input did you have?
HB: I had a general idea for the feel of them and the team and I discussed this and gave a broad brief to the arrangers. I think a lot a lot of the freshness is a natural response, influenced by the way people are writing now, what's in and fashionable and what we wish we knew many years ago and maybe how the songs may have been orchestrated had they been written now.

SOA: If you could pick only one, which of the R&H leading ladies would you want to play?
HB: One day I would like to play Anna in The King and I. It's a lovely role, a feisty soprano which I .think I am.

SOA: Looking beyond the disc, and in a similar vein, what are the musical theater roles that you're yearning to play?
HB: I'd love to play Eliza Doolittle and Mary Poppins.

SOA: Any plans for a 'sophmore' recording? And, even if not, which songwriter or songwriting team would you want to explore on a single disc?
I'd quite like to do a Disney album, or rather the sound of animated movies and touch on my childhood and everyone else's. Singing the songs of Alan Menken...amazing.

SOA: And finally, what have I’ve missed? What are you up to these days and projects that you'd like to share?
HB: I'm still promoting the album and am back auditioning. I would really like to do some new and contemporary work as I haven't had the opportunity to touch on this yet and I'd like to tick that off.

For further information, visit:  www.speckulationentertainment.com

It seems incongruous that Judy Collins has made the Café Carlyle, once home to the suave Bobby Short, her home away from home. But the folk/pop singer brings such a warm, homey atmosphere to the swanky environs that she seems to fit right in.

Currently playing her fifth annual engagement, the 71-year-old singer, still in possession of her magnificently flowing tresses and gorgeous, crystalline voice, delivers a wonderfully satisfying evening of eclectic material ranging from familiar staples like “Send in the Clowns” and “Chelsea Morning” to songs by such contemporaries as Bob Dylan (“Mr. Tambourine Man”), Joan Baez (“Diamonds and Rust”), Leonard Cohen (“Suzanne”) and the Beatles (“Norwegian Wood”). Even though she delivers a generous, nearly two-hour show, such favorites as “Both Sides Now” are missing from the set list.

Accompanying herself on guitar and performing with her longtime musical director Russell Walden on piano and, for the first time, Yoed Nir on cello, the singer crafts an enthralling musical spell. A particular highlight was her rendition of “When You Wish Upon a Star,” delivered with haunting sincerity.

She also reveals a wicked sense of humor, tossing off comic asides about such things as the Grammy Awards and her upcoming memoir, which she proposes to call Judy Blue Eyes: Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll and the Music That Changed a Generation.

Surveying the tony room filled with its obviously well-heeled patrons, she cracked, “So much like the Bitter End, only different.”

The opening night crowd was treated to a surprise appearance by a special guest, Irish singer Glen Hansard of the groups The Frames and The Swell Season. Singing both a solo number and a duet with Collins, his admiration for the influential veteran singer was clearly palpable.

Café Carlyle, 35 E. 76^th St. 212-744-1600. www.thecarlyle.com.

Most contemporary operas come and go while leaving nary a trace in the cultural zeitgeist. A rare exception is John Adams’ Nixon in China, which is finally making its debut at the Metropolitan Opera a mere 24 years after its world premiere.

The original creative team has largely reassembled for the auspicious occasion. Composer Adams will be conducting at all performances; director Peter Sellars has provided a virtual repeat of his acclaimed staging; and set designer Adrianne Lobel, costume designer Dunya Ramicova, lighting designer James F. Ingalls and choreographer Mark Morris are once again on board. The production even features the original star, baritone James Maddalena, who has nicely aged into his role as Nixon.

Unfortunately, the undeniably striking revival doesn’t provide further evidence that the opera is a modern masterpiece. Adams’ largely minimalist score has its stirring moments, but it is also endlessly repetitive. And Alice Goodman’s libretto concerning the history-making trip made by the stalwart cold warrior to the Communist country is a bit of a mess, veering wildly from realism to subtle satire to bizarre flights of absurdism.

The opening scene certainly remains stirring, featuring a massive reproduction of Air Force One landing in Peking and being greeted by Chinese premier Chou En-lai (Russell Braun) and a coterie of officials while the orchestra provides suitably bombastic fanfares.

As befitting the largely ceremonial events being depicts, there is little here in the way of plot. Nixon meets the now infirm Chairman Mao (Robert Brubaker), who proceeds to deliver a series of baffling pronouncements that leave his guests befuddled. A celebratory dinner follows, complete with laudatory toasts. And the president and his wife attend a performance of a revolutionary ballet created by Mao’s wife, Chiang Ch’ing (Kathleen Kim), the plot of which so upsets the couple that they insert themselves into the action.

When all the pomp and circumstance is concluded, the pivotal figures retreat to their bedrooms, where they ponder the significance of what they have accomplished? “Have we done anything that was good?” movingly sings Chou.

The piece is most affecting in its quieter moments, such as Pat Nixon’s quiet aria in which she sings about the path in life she has taken. With the exception of Henry Kissinger (Richard Paul Fink), who is reduced to something of a caricature (he even shows up as a villain in the ballet), the characters are depicted with surprisingly dignity.

Despite the fact that the singers are amplified, the vocals are frequently buried by the orchestra’s volume, with Maddalena in particular frequently having trouble making himself heard above the general din.

For all its flaws, Nixon in China is a work that deserves a place in the operatic repertory, especially since it is the rare example of one dealing with relatively current events. Those unable to procure tickets for one of the Met performances will have the opportunity to see the Feb. 12 matinee being simulcast in movie theaters worldwide as part of The Met: Live in HD series. It is also scheduled to be broadcast on PBS stations later this year.

Metropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center. 212-362-6000. www.metopera.org.

You probably haven’t heard of them yet, but it’s only a matter of time until you do. Kait Kerrigan and Brian Lowdermilk are a musical theater composing team who has won virtually every prize there is for promising up-and-comers, including the Kleban, Jonathan Larson and Richard Rodgers awards. They have a new musical, The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown, opening this summer at Goodspeed’s Norma Terris Theatre, and they’ve just released their debut CD, Our First Mistake, available now from Sh-K-Boom Records. 

Featuring melodic, pop-style songs with wittily incisive lyrics, the terrific album features an eclectic line-up of singers, including stars like Kelli O’Hara and Laura Osnes as well as various Broadway performers and such recording artists as singer/pianist Vienna Teng.

You can hear songs from the album performed live this Monday night (Feb. 7) at Le Poisson Rouge, located at 158 Bleecker Street in the West Village. Part of a concert series dubbed the You Made This Tour, the show features a roster of performers including Matt Doyle (Spring Awakening), Kate Shindle (Legally Blonde), Meghann Fahy (Next to Normal), Osnes and many others. Showtime is 10pm, and tickets are a very reasonable $20. You can purchase them at www.lepoissonrouge.com or by calling 212-505-3474.   

Upcoming dates include shows as the Canal Room (Feb. 28, 7pm) and again at Le Poisson Rouge (Mar. 27, 7pm).