author: Amanda N. Gunther
Hundreds and hundreds of girls! At least they didn’t just get off of the train…though that might be a different composer. And actually, it’s only six— six girls— and no, three of them are not named Katherine. Different six- ~Casey~ * ~Heather~ * ~Holly~ * ~Izzy~ * ~Lizzie~ * ~Meli~ and Steven. And while they may not be famous dead queens formerly married to a tyrant, they are certainly queens of the stage with their vocal prowess as they tackle this musical revue-cabaret of Jerry’s Girls, a composite-show featuring the music of Jerry Herman, known for iconoclastic musicals like Mame, La Cage Aux Folles, and Hello, Dolly! (All of which have been done by either Cockpit in Court or Dundalk Community Theatre over the last several decades!) Directed and Choreographed by Lauren Spencer-Harris with Musical Direction and live-action-piano by the incomparable Steven Edward Soltow, this evening of familiar, fun-loving songs is well-sung, and has a brilliant surprise waiting to steal your breath at the end.
It’s a cabaret space at Cockpit in Court’s upstairs venue, so there isn’t a set designer for this particular show as things are simple— a floor, a piano centerstage, and lots and lots of lighting. (Shoutout to the build team— Francesco Leandro, Broadus Nesbitt, Robert Noakes, Kim O’Donnell, and Alexis Tucker— who assembled the basics for the six performers, piano, and Steven to rest upon.) Lighting Designer Helen Garcia-Alton gives the audience a lot of ‘moody blue’ lighting, which is perfect for a lot of the deeper, sweeping numbers. Watch out for the ‘Christmas-on-Crack’ effect during “We Need a Little Christmas” (blinking red and green lights…ooh boy does it get the message across effectively!) Garcia-Alton understands the way the space is set and makes effective use of overall warm and soft focal lighting for the different performers as they enter and exit the play space from the cross-sectional-x-bars that lead out into the depths of the house.
As far as costumes go, it appears they come from the cast, and with a ‘cabaret/evening of songs’ in mind you get a series of lovely eveningwear dresses and pantsuits, several of which sparkle. The first act features rich shades of plum, turquoise, fuchsia, navy, and sparkly black. The second act has everyone moving into even classier outfits, more ‘evening formal’ as opposed to evening casual, except for the one cotton summery-pinkish-orange dress, which just looks ever-so-slightly out of step when the other five performers are all glitzed to the nines in the second act. But ultimately the notion of “classy cabaret” reads across the board, pink-orange-summer-dress-hiccup aside.
Any musical revue presents the challenge of captivating and engaging the audience, particularly when there isn’t really a throughline that comes attached to the libretto. In this case, Director Lauren Spencer-Harris and Musical Director Steven Edward Soltow do their best to gel these musical numbers together around the notion that Soltow, who opens up the show in soft acapella, seated as his piano, is Jerry Herman and that these six stars are his ‘girls’ coming to sing in the audition room for him. While it doesn’t always create the strongest connection to the musical numbers themselves, it does make for a pretty staged concert effect. Where Spencer-Harris’ vision comes through is in the edits and adjustments to the show (permissibly granted by Concord Theatrics) to drop obscenely racist songs (products of their times) and turn others into piano-solos only (like two numbers from Milk and Honey) so that you can still hear the lovely music without being subjected to questionably appropriate lyrics. Spencer-Harris also chooses to use six women instead of just the three that the casting recommends; this is a strong choice and creates a proper vocal showcase for double the amount of talent.
While there appear to be a few missed choreographic opportunities— and that may come down to ‘leading lady syndrome’ (where your ‘leading ladies’ may not necessarily have the dance experience or expertise to do complex routines) Spencer-Harris does a nice job of keeping the ladies in movement all throughout the performance. Some of them even join Soltow on the piano bench…or in one instance, atop the piano… and there’s always something interesting happening on stage to watch as well as listen to while these talented women sing their hearts out and belt their faces off. The show’s main issue, aside from having moments where the songs— though sung with spectacular technical prowess feel unconnected to anything in particular (a risk that gets run with these revue-type shows)— is the sound balance. The staging of the cabaret space is theatre-in-the-square with drop-mics. And unfortunately there are a great many times when lyrics get lost, gobbled up by the void of the space. When the women are singing as a sextet, it’s fine; when they sing in unison or finish their solos with huge belts and sustains, you can hear the notes magnificently. Unfortunately, particularly in some of the more quickly pattered solos, you lose lyrics if the singer isn’t facing your specific seating bank of the audience. As someone who knows these songs extremely well (and not everyone will necessarily be like me, knowing each of the lyrics) when you cannot hear the lyrics, it detracts from the overall experience.
Izzy Berman, Heather Bounds, Lizzie Detar, Casey Lane, Meli Mulin Hartsoe, Holly Ruhling (and Steven, but we’ll get to him later) comprise the sextet of sensational singing women featured in this production of Jerry’s Girls, each having multiple moments to shine in solo or duet with the others. And all of them come together with effervescent energies for group numbers like “We Need a Little Christmas” from Mame. The staging of that number is hilarious (note the aforementioned Christmas-on-Crack lighting effect) in addition to dragging five girls on stage with sleigh bells, tinsel, tiny trees, and a menorah, they all rally around Casey Lane trying to ‘get her in the mood’ as it were. You get Izzie Berman dreamily drifting her way through “Showtune” from Parade and you get to hear her living her best life with zest and gusto in the second act when she performs “Gooch’s Song” from Mame. Casey Lane, who gets respective and bombastic solo numbers from both Mame and Mack and Mable (“It’s Today” and “Wherever He Ain’t”, respectively) is a proper pip when it comes to lighting up those solos. It’s comedy at its most divine when you hear Lane square off against Holly Ruhling in “Bosom Buddies” (also from Mame) as the pair really put the bite and bark into that duet much like Bea and Angela.
Taking point on “La Cage” from La Cage Aux Folles, you get to witness Meli Mulin Hartsoe climb up on top of the piano in her bugle-bead-sequin-studded black-flapper dress and slide across it will singing out this bawdy and edgy number, accompanied by the other ladies, of course. Hartsoe also wins the hearts of the audience in the first act when she blasts her way through “Take It All Off” (sort of with lyrics of opposition for humor’s sake) and you get to hear her tender side when she solos “If He Walked Into My Life” from Mame as the penultimate number of Act I. Boisterously kicking off the first solo of the evening, after the “It Takes a Woman” company intro, Heather Bounds leaps into “Just Leave Everything to Me” (a rare-cut number from most modern productions of Hello, Dolly!) Bounds and Hartsoe get to do a face-off duet “Kiss Her Now”, from Dear World, which is both haunting and tragically beautiful hearing them sing together. Bounds’ has a stunning sapphire ruffle-top ballgown that she wears in the second act that makes her look like the most elegant woman on the stage.
Lizzie Detar knocks it out of the park when it comes to connecting with the song and making it feel as if she’s emotionally grounded in the musical from which the song came. Her powerhouse presentation of “So Long, Dearie” from Hello, Dolly! is a sensation. You feel as if she could be Dolly Levi strutting in, capturing the attention of everyone, and pulling you into that moment in the show. Even if you’ve never seen Hello, Dolly! you get the sense that Detar is telling a story, engaging in an emotional explosion, and selling it to us in this number. She pitches the song half at Steven Edward Soltow and half at the audience; it’s a brilliant choice and really adds that extra bump of pizzazz to connect her to the number, us to her, and make it simply exquisite. You get to hear Detar’s more delicate and winsome sound opposite Izzy Berman during “It Only Takes a Moment” (also from Dolly!) closer to the top of the show and again later in the second act with “Song on the Sand.” Detar sings this fondly touching love song directly to Soltow, even sitting beside him on the piano bench at one point, really putting the effervescence of young-love-fondly-recalled behind her dulcet vocals.
Maybe it’s just the Hello, Dolly! numbers that give these ladies a chance to really make those homerun connections with the songs in this revue, because when you hear and see Holly Ruhling belt out “Before the Parade Passes By” you get that rush of swan-song-come-eleven-o’clock number exuding out of her just as if she were really rolling through the Act I finale of that show in the titular role. You also get an exquisite sample of Ruhling’s emotional connectivity to “Time Heals Everything” (from Mack and Mabel) midway through the second act. With hearty and robust vocals she’s an excellent match for her solo features and pairs off well with Casey Lane for the aforementioned performance of “Bosom Buddies” and her feature in “Tap Your Troubles Away” (Mack and Mabel) opposite Hartsoe and Berman earlier in act one.
The scene-stealing, show-stopping number comes down to a deliberate directorial choice: making Steven Edward Soltow (and his genius piano-playing hands) ‘Jerry Herman’ gives the audience an opportunity to hear him sing a few little acapella song lead-ins here and there. And then Soltow takes the show by the horns and earns himself ovation-worthy applause with his self-accompanied rendition of “I Am What I Am.” It’s such a stunning, brilliant performance you almost forget that there were also six women on stage with him up until that finale number, belting their faces off and harmonizing all throughout the evening. The chills you get from hearing Soltow explode that number in a conflagration of emotional sincerity and prideful truth (to steal some lyrics… “it’s cause for alarm!”) is exhilarating and rewarding, a perfect showcase of his vocal and pianist skills all in one number. You get to hear him accompany the women throughout the showcase of songs— interacting with each and every one of them (a nod, a gesture, a facial expression, etc.,)— all while creating beautiful music with his hands.
It may not be your average bill of fare for the upstairs cabaret space at Cockpit in Court this summer but it’s six incredibly talented women (and one incredibly talented Steven) doing the music of Jerry Herman a great deal of justice. From Mame to Hello, Dolly! and a whole bunch of other shows, you get a delectable sampling of musical talent and songs to fill you with feelings this summer season. Don’t miss your chance to catch Jerry’s Girls this June.
Running Time: Approximately 100 minutes with one intermission
Jerry’s Girls plays through June 30th 2024, with Cockpit in Court in the upstairs Cabaret Space of The Robert and Eleanor Romadka College Center at the Community College of Baltimore County Essex Campus— 7201 Rossville Boulevard, Essex MD. For tickets call the box office at (443) 840-2787 or purchase them online.
