Review: GYPSY IN MY SOUL: DAWN DEROW SINGS EYDIE GORME Inspires Ovations At Birdland Theater

Eydie Gorme is a name that always inspires a specific and strong response from people. A universally revered entertainer and beloved woman, Gorme's name is synonymous with beauty, glamor, personality, and quality. The mere utterance of the name causes people to smile, sigh, or react in any number of affectionate and appreciative ways. It is, therefore, only natural that Dawn Derow should perform a tribute show to the legendary singer because Ms. Derow shares many of the qualities for which Ms. Gorme was known. Even the artwork for her show GYPSY IN MY SOUL: Dawn Derow SINGS Eydie Gorme captures the qualities that make people react to Eydie and Dawn the way they do - with excited anticipation for a wonderful event to come.

GYPSY IN MY SOUL was cut short a 2020 debut at The Beach Cafe by one day. Scheduled to premiere on March 14th of that year, this show that many were lining up to see (including this guy) was canceled on the 13th when New York City began locking down for the pandemic. Like desert wanderers happening upon oases, audiences are returning to newly-opened clubs to see artists who have made their own journeys back to the water, and last night at The Birdland Theater, all present reveled once more in the restorative that is live entertainment. A socially distanced house full of patrons sat among several video cameras on hand to live stream the first-ever performance of the show and Derow's first time on a nightclub stage since that fateful day of March 13th, and it was one grateful group of people, before, during and after the show.

For her Eydie Gorme tribute, Ms. Derow has donned a wig to make her look a little more like the legend, even though her opening comments assure that she is trying, neither, to look nor sound like Eydie, which is a good thing (and a good thing to say) because nobody could ever sing like Eydie Gorme, so unique, so rare, so special was her gift. Also, though, Derow herself has a voice far too lovely and individual to waste by bending it to another's sound: best to share the voice desired by a crowd that loves the diva of today just as much as they do the diva of yesteryear. Creating a balance of the two is the right night of entertainment for those folks, and Derow and co. manage to achieve that balance, for the most part.

Expertly guided by her director Jeff Harnar and contentedly working alongside musical director Ian Herman, Ms. Derow has put together a wonderful, enjoyable show that plays exactly as one might think it will. Working carefully to choose just the right songs to reflect Gorme's hits and Derow's preferences, the setlist serves both women and the audience well, with a solid balance of styles, genres, tempos, and moods, and although one number about a caffeinated drink seemed a little out of place, it gave Dawn a chance to be playful and to show off a pair of legs most easily likened to those of Cyd Charisse. Derow is an exciting performer to watch, at ease with audience interaction and comfortable enough to break into some sultry dance moves during the up-tempo (usually Latin) numbers, and because of her likability and intoxicating beauty, one is content to cheer for her, forgive first-night foibles, or follow her off a cliff. As for mishaps, there were a couple last night that one could chalk up to opening night nerves or fourteen months of forced retirement, but nothing that a few more trips around the mic stand won't cure.

When engaged in the act of singing, Ms. Derow is in complete control - confident, strong, beyond reproach, exhibiting versatility and virtuosity with Gorme's Latin hits, club standards, and even a little blues, earning special marks for her magnificent modulation at the end of one of the numbers, something Eydie often did... because she could. It is during the spoken moments of the show that, moving forward, some focus might be applied. It isn't that Dawn doesn't know the text or that the stories aren't interesting, because the trivia and factoids about Gorme are entertaining, informative, and well-executed. It is, though, when Derow compares her relationship status to that of Steve and Eydie, or when she discusses her own feelings about the Steve and Eydie billing that she shines brightest. It is when Dawn shares her points of view, her passion for particular recordings, and her flirtatious camaraderie with the men who share her stage and her life, that the qualities she shares with Eydie resonate most powerfully. Perhaps if Ms. Derow and director Jeff Harnar were to give the script a refresh to add a little more of Dawn Derow to the Eydie Gorme show, the songstress supreme would present as a tad more comfortable in between musical numbers easily labeled as perfect.

Standouts among those moments of perfection are a romantically stunning "I Don't Want To Walk Without You" and an appropriately earth-shattering "If He Walked Into My Life" - and this writer truly hopes that Dawn will be able to include guests Jeff Harnar and Danny Bacher in all her future shows. The show rained chemistry upon Dawn and both gentlemen (MD Ian Herman, too) as they played marvelous Steves to Dawn's Eydie, each one just right in his own unique way, and each one providing different, delightful results to a show that is well on its way to being a boffo buffet of delicious Gorme delicacies, all courtesy of Dawn Derow.

GYPSY IN MY SOUL: Dawn Derow SINGS Eydie Gorme will play The Cotuit Center for the Arts in MA on July 30th and 31st and The Cultural Center in MA on August 22nd.

GYPSY IN MY SOUL: Dawn Derow SINGS Eydie Gorme can be seen virtually HERE.

For all of Dawn Derow's performance dates and more visit the Dawn Derow website HERE.

Photos by Stephen Mosher

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