Review: Laura Nyro's Music Carries On

One Child Born: The Music of Laura Nyro

Written by Louis Greenstein and Kate Ferber, Directed by Adrienne Campbell-Holt, Costumes by Tilly Grimes

Performed by Kate Ferber

Performances through December 10 at American Repertory Theater's Club Oberon, 2 Arrow Street, Cambridge, MA; Box Office 617-547-8300 or americanrepertorytheater.org

One Child Born: The Music of Laura Nyro is a one-woman cabaret style show that can only be called a labor of love. Co-written by Louis Greenstein and its star Kate Ferber, it grew out of Ferber's own adoration of Nyro since childhood and blossomed into a genuine tribute by including testimonials from a variety of fictional "Nyrotics" whose lives were impacted by the late singer-songwriter. Featuring a mere ten songs from the Nyro canon in conjunction with ten stories, Ferber scratches the surface of the brilliance of the soulful legend who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 14, 2012, almost fifteen years to the date of her premature death at the age of 49 of ovarian cancer.

Ferber takes the stage as herself, opening with "The Confession," the first of half a dozen selections from Nyro's 1968 album "Eli and the Thirteenth Confession," and shares her personal connection to the artist and her music. She and her mother used to dance around the house to Nyro's songs and, ridiculous as it seems to her now, Ferber sang "And When I Die" in her 8th grade talent show. Although she had no clue as to its meaning, it was a great illustration of Nyro's depth that she wrote it at the tender age of nineteen.

Over the course of her 65-minute act, Ferber introduces the kind of people who have shared their Nyro stories with her. There's Mona, a New Yorker who ran into Laura on the street in 1972 and got invited to her apartment for a memorable evening of wine and music. There's the guy who fell in love with her at a concert in 1970 and carries the ticket stub in his wallet. A southern African-American grandmother bought tickets to take her granddaughter to a concert and was surprised to learn that Nyro was white. A woman from Texas was convinced that Laura didn't die, but got tired of all the crap in the music business, and a Russian immigrant learned English by listening to her albums.

The stories are fairly brief and well told, but the diehards in the audience come for the music. As for sounding like or channeling Nyro, Ferber is damned if she does and damned if she doesn't. It is not her intention to imitate, but there are moments when her voice rises with a passionate wail that evokes Nyro's vocal style, although the timbre of her voice is no match for Laura's. She conveys the emotions and the meaning of the lyrics by crafting the songs in her own style, occasionally changing a tempo or mood. Ferber's piano skills are considerable, but her sound differs from Nyro's driving beats and delicately nuanced trills. However, Ferber never masks the fact that she is not trying to be Laura Nyro; she emulates her by being herself. One Child Born: The Music of Laura Nyro is a celebration of an unsung writer who deserves all the love and attention she can get.

SONG LIST:

• The Confession
• Timer
• Sweet Blindness
• Lucky
• Save The Country
• Wedding Bell Blues
• New York Tendaberry
• Eli's Comin'
• Stoned Soul Picnic
• And When I Die

Photo credit: Alex Lowy Photography (Kate Ferber)

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