Review: The More You Hear The More You Want From ORFEH: OR & MORE At Feinstein's/54 Below

Orfeh Only Needs One Name To Put Over OR & MORE!

Heigh-Ho, My Merry Rainbow Tribe! Bobby Patrick, your RAINBOW Reviewer here. Putting the silent T in cabareT to bring you all the T!

Picture it my little lambkins, a rock concert stage with musicians entering, all in black jeans and T's in various stages of degradation... touches of leather and silver... some with Rock & Roll emblems and pictures on those black t-shirts, taking up their mics and instruments and preparing to blast the audience as a booming voice announces, "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WELCOME TO THE STAGE... ORFEH!" To the opening strains of I'M YOUR BABY TONIGHT the ultimate Rocker Babe hit the platform and you could almost picture the hordes of people standing, lit cigarette lighters in hand, to dance and shout to the beat of the drums... Almost, that is, if the "arena" weren't the elegant Feinstein's/54 Below, the setting for last night's ORFEH: OR & MORE extravaganza. Now, for all you lovelies out there who may not know, this queen's dream of a lady has moved from bonafide top 100 pop singer to becoming The Premier Lady Baritone Of Broadway. With her impossibly deep sultry voice infused with for reals Rock & Roll growl and her native New Yorker guts, Orfeh has built a Tony Nominated career on the most famous of our streets with roles like PRETTY WOMAN's tough-talking hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold, Kit Deluca, and the sweetly dim hairdresser-with-a-heart-of-gold, Paulette, in LEGALLY BLONDE. Both of these parts in the theatre have demonstrated this singer to be a wonderful actress, and her connection with her audience last night shows she's also a funny lady (Barbra who?). It also bears mentioning that Orfeh and her delicious hunk of a husband, Andy Karl, have blazed a trail or two with a co-career resembling a musical theatre Lunt & Fontanne (don't make Bobby tell you... Look em up!), appearing together in Broadway musicals, as well as sold-out concerts. But this is a solo show this time, and the power of Orfeh to get and keep her audience enraptured with her vocals and her presence is a gift all her own.

As the beats of her first number pumped and she passed riffs back and forth with backup singer Niki Kimbrough, the lady showed her soul was sold to Rock & Roll. Though comparisons are a cop-out, especially with such an original performer as Orfeh, one really does understand why she was tapped to sing the role of Joplin herself in the Off-Broadway run of LOVE JANIS a few years back. Her electric stage presence and tough girl command of the space last night evoked a "Joplin-in-concert" tone, as well as chair dancing and, as she called it, "The Gay Gasps" from her peeps when she took up the Janis classic, PIECE OF MY HEART. Early in the show, calling on her old friend the FAB Marissa Rosen, the pair joined forces to knock us all out with their whole lotta HISTORY, proving that the rapport of friendship is one thing, but real chemistry is another, and together these two seasoned performers have both in abundance. Watching them work the crowd by sparking off each other comically and musically, one (and by one we mean little Bobby) could easily imagine a THELMA & LOUISE: THE MUSICAL with this pair in the titular roles. And speaking of dynamic duos, the evening's backups, Ms. Kimbrough and Tim Kodres, make a wonderfully strong, even unstoppable, pair. Tim's tenor wails mixed with Niki's ability to float beautiful tones and then BAZINGA! hit you with power notes made their Elton John medley a highlight. While it may have been Orfeh's show, the lady does not appear to be a hogger of the limelight, as she yielded her stage to allow her backups to shine for a full two of her precious 9 setlist slots. Now my dear ones, when a star gives over their time like that to other performers, you can bet that generosity is fueled by an immeasurable admiration - an admiration that says, "My audience NEEDS to hear this," just smacks of the perfect mix of confidence and humility that rolls off of Orfeh like the heat off of New York's pavement this past sweltering week! Coming out of our recent "predicament" and an entire era of selfish lookoutfornumberone-ism, how refreshing it is to experience a selfless, success-for-all mentality, especially in the arts. Besides, her backup singers helped to bring the audience to their feet for a mid-show standing O when Ms. O joined them for a tri-O (see what we did there?). At the end of the show, Orfeh also humbly gave all deference to "The Texan"; Musical Director, Steven Jamail, whose visually deceptive light touch on the keyboards belied the fact he was bringing the beats throughout all 9 numbers. AND speaking of a setlist of 9 songs (well, 10 with her terrific encore of SO MUCH BETTER THAN BEFORE, with all of its egregious key changes) the tight 1-hour show was over way too soon, and how many shows can you ever say that about? So, my merry band of rainbow lovers, this review is clearly a rave, and you should all click the links to get your tickets as ORFEH: OR & MORE has 2 more shows at F/54B this week. Click, buy, and go because Bobby gives this one his FULL...

5 Out Of 5 Rainbows

To get your tickets NOW for ORFEH: OR & MORE, Click: HERE

Orfeh Spins Her Website: HERE

Check Out Her Twitters: HERE

Look Up Her YouTubes: HERE

Stalk Her Insta-PictoGrams: HERE

And Followe On Ye Olde FaceBooke: HERE

Read Stephen Mosher's Interview with Orfeh: HERE

All Photos By The Lovely Stephen Mosher

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