Review: David LaMarr & Darnell White: FULLY VACCINATED Is Artistic Entertainment Fully Perfected

It was the debut everyone was waiting for. It was the show everyone needed to see. It was the night out everyone was dreaming of.

And it was worth the wait.

As individual artists, as individual men, David LaMarr and Darnell White are people that others know. The former has spent some time on the theatrical stage and the latter has spent some time on the piano bench. They have built up names for themselves through work that, with ease, gets the attention and that, through excellence, stays in the memory. Both have appeared on the nightclub stage, with Mr. White playing alongside artists like Blaine Alden Krauss and Mr. LaMarr performing solos in group shows. There was, though, a growing anticipatory build-up to that moment when David LaMarr would do his first solo show in a New York City cabaret room. Once the two musicians met and fell in love, their growing legend as a show business couple led many to the assumption that White would musical direct that solo show, when LaMarr decided he was ready.

Nobody was prepared for the show that they got.

FULLY VACCINATED, the new show - the duo show - starring David LaMarr and Darnell White is one of the most fully realized cabaret debuts to come along in years. Like old pros, Misters White and LaMarr stepped up onto the stage of Don't Tell Mama's original room and presented an hour of entertainment that will be remembered by the lucky sold-out audience as one of the best they have ever seen. The program of music is made up (almost) entirely of songs written and composed by Mr. White, all of them telling the story of the last hundred years that were the pandemic and quarantine experience of New York City and, specifically, what that experience, and the experience of being in love, was like for the two boyfriends. It is a club act with a personal (and intimate) story - one to which every audience member can relate, particularly in the joint storytelling skills of the show's leading men.

Eschewing the idea of a solo show for this duo show, David LaMarr's mission was to raise Darnell to the light, to place an emphasized visibility on White's songwriting talent, which is precisely what he does in Fully Vaccinated. Like a perfect couple of completely different people, the flashier of the two (LaMarr) drags his favorite artist into the spotlight, wherever he goes, demanding that attention be paid - and for that, a debt of gratitude is owed. Darnell White's songs must be heard. Darnell White's songs will be sung. The collection of compositions showcased in this piece of musical theater is magnificent: from interesting and beautiful melodic lines to theatrical musical poetry that instills in the listener a feeling that their diary has been read, Mr. White's commentary observes everything we know about falling in love, living our lives, and surviving another day while laying before us everything we should be saying about justice and equality, but that we might, just, be having trouble saying in the right way. Every singer should be singing a Darnell White song.

Conversely to Mr. LaMarr's truculent nature, the yin to his yan specializes in foundation. Like an electrical ground, Darnell White stays put at his piano, providing his beloved with support both musical and emotional, with a watchful eye and a palpable strength, he is the rock upon which David leans, even from across the room - and it isn't the heels that necessitate an occasional leaning post, that's for sure: unlikely is the possibility of David LaMarr ever falling off his heels. The nature of their relationship is fully on display, throughout their show, and it is a beauty that should be in the light because it is an inspiration - not just the romance and the way they complement one another, but the enormity of the humor they share, the camaraderie, and the melding of two extraordinary talents.

David LaMarr is an exceptional singer and performer, one that would excel while presenting the work of any songwriter, but his deep dive into the compositions of Darnell White makes abundantly clear that he is the artist who will, most, embody White's canon. LaMarr's care for the material is so strong that his constant accessory for the show was a music stand to which he could refer, to ensure Darnell's lyrics' absolute accuracy. Many know the distaste that I have for singers who do not know their lyrics while performing but, on this occasion, LaMarr gets a rare free pass. It's been nearly fourteen months since a live performance, he's singing an entire show of brand new works, and the songs of his spousal unit, and his desire, no, more than that, his NEED to get those lyrics right is understandable: the heat was on. Also, though, if a singing actor is going to read their lyrics off a sheet, they need to do it like David LaMarr. Not once did his storytelling suffer, not once did he turn his back on the audience, not once did he give anything but ninety-five percent (come on, I have to dock at least five percent for the music stand) to the entire exquisite and epic night. There was nothing in last evening's performance with which one could find fault - not one of the sixty paying guests or this journalist. This was a night filled with love.

Older couples tend to react strongly at the weddings of younger pairs, from the sight of their love on display, raw, vulnerable, exciting and new. Similarly, it is impossible to not fall in love with the threesome that is Darnell, David, and David N Darnell. It is impossible to not fall in love with Darnell when he uses his gorgeous voice to fill the air with his artistic vision for all to hear and validate, or David when he opens up his most authentic and vulnerable being to a room full of people who might judge those most personal parts of himself. Authenticity. That's where it begins for LaMarr and White from start to finish, in this show that is going to require more dates throughout the year, a show that everyone needs to see.

Talk about winning the race, your first time out.

David LaMarr and Darnell White FULLY VACCINATED has concluded its opening performances. When new dates have been announced, Broadway World Cabaret will publish the information.

Photos by Stephen Mosher

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