Review: Frances Ruffelle And Norman Bowman Debut FRANKIE & BEAUSY AT 54 Below And The World Feels Right Again

I am currently reading the new Barbra Streisand autobiography (everyone else who is, please raise your hand, now).  I’m on chapter six, and, in the story, they are at the stage in Ms. Streisand’s life when Funny Girl was at the creation stage.  So the chapters I have just finished feature a lot of talk about her nightclub career when she was singing in places like The Bon Soir.  Listening to Barbra Streisand talk about (I am listening to the audiobook while reading the physical book, which I can recommend) the way that she created her club acts, the manner with which she chose songs, the inspiration for the arrangements, the detailed artistic work that went into every single factor of those cabarets and club shows is fascinating, very interesting, and rather illuminating.

Last night at FRANKIE AND BEAUSY, I had this one recurring thought:  Frances Ruffelle is like Barbra Streisand.  I don’t, naturally, mean that they are alike in their performance styles - what I mean is that Frances Ruffelle builds her shows in much the same way as Barbra Streisand.   Frankie And Beausy is Frances Ruffelle’s return to the cabaret stage after the stay-at-home order robbed her of the continuation of her smash hit Frances Ruffelle LiveS In New York, which played a year-long residency at The Green Room 42, and which looked poised for future life.  That show that packed TGR42 for every performance for a year was a work of art, indeed, the most interesting and artistic cabaret show this writer has seen.  Ever.  Well, three years have passed and Frances Ruffelle is a different person now.  There was some darkness in the storyline of Frances Ruffelle LiveS In New York (that, by the way, is not a typo).  During the quarantine, Frankie formed a delicious liaison with her old friend and fellow West End star, Norman Bowman, and the two have been involved, ever since, in one of the most adorable and adult, hand-holding and heart-warming, and extremely sexy relationships that a person could hope to witness, either by way of Instagram or in a cabaret play that does a deep dive into the subject of relationships, and the music of Broadway (and beyond).  Frankie Ruffelle is all batting eyelashes and coquettish head cocking, accompanied by loving side-eye glances at her beau.  So, why wouldn’t Frances Ruffelle ask her life-threateningly handsome “beausy” to do a play with her?  It seems almost insultingly simple:  they have to do this play.  They have too much love to share.  AND they have too much storytelling art to share.

Like her earlier show, Frances Ruffelle has done a clear deep-dive into the music that would tell the story of this play about love and relationships, and (specifically) the ups and downs of relationships.  She and Norman have crafted a sophisticated, wickedly funny, and wildly madcap sort of song cycle, a kind of a ballet, something akin to a poetry slam or a suite.  There is very little dialogue (some, but not a lot, other than the bookends of ‘welcome’ and ‘thank you’).  Together they have taken pre-existing pieces of music and strung them together to tell not only the story of the couple in their play but (at least bits of) the story of anyone and everyone who has ever been in a relationship.  

Readers may notice that I keep using the word “play” - that is because that’s what FRANKIE & BEAUSY is.  It is what Frances Ruffelle LiveS In New York was.  This is what Frances Ruffelle does:  she is a storyteller and it feels, it seems, it looks like it is unnatural for her to just point to some sheet music and say, “Here’s my setlist.”  Frankie wants, no, Frankie NEEDS to tell a story.  And her intellect demands that she not pander to her audience.  She fashions the story and when the starting pistol goes off, so does she:  keep up or fall behind.  She and Norman have scripted and orchestrated every moment in the show to tell that story, to put on that play, which this writer was expecting, having seen Frances Ruffelle LiveS In New York repeatedly.  However, the two charming gentlemen who shared the table where I sat with fellow Broadway World Cabaret correspondent, Brady Schwind, had an exchange after the show was over.  One said to the other, “That was kind of like a play,” and I confirmed that for him, simply replying, “You are absolutely right - that WAS a play.”

Now, there are those who are going to hate this, but I’m not going to do a rundown of what Norman and Frances sing in the show.  It will not be fair to future audiences (or to Frankie and Norman) to spoil the story.  I know it isn’t The Mousetrap or The Bad Seed or Harry Potter And The Cursed Child, where the audience is asked to “keep the secret” but this is one of those shows where it really is essential, for the enjoyment of the piece, to go into the club unresearched, without any prior knowledge of the material.  However, I don’t mind giving some teasers:  

Sondheim fans will be in heaven.

Cole Porter devotees will be satisfied.

Burt Bacharach buffs will be sighing.

Lovers of forgotten musical theater will be excited.

Maury Yeston enthusiasts will be cheering.

Barbra Streisand admirers will be happy.

Judy Garland fans will be delirious (because Frankie has done the impossible, she has found a new way to present Garland’s most ubiquitously performed torch song - this is not a subtle hint).

Les Miserables aficionados… well, let’s just leave that one dangling in the air, shall we?

And as far as the music and the acting go, it’s hard to think that it could get better.  Beausy’s voice is beautiful, and Frankie’s voice is as powerful and unique as ever.  The staging is whimsical but professional.  The relationship with the audience is dedicated.  And the dedication to each other is palpable.  Just watching the way Norman and Frances hold hands, just seeing the way that they look at each other - it’s enough to make a person want to go home and throw themselves at their own spousal unit… and it’s enough to make those without a spousal unit go out and get one for the night.  This kind of love, devotion, and unbridled desire for a partner is that which people dream of, and seeing it on display in one of Frances Ruffelle’s remarkable plays is reason enough to get one’s bumm in a seat, luv.  But go for the storytelling, which is beyond compare - and that is always the case when Frankie Ruffelle is in the room… and, apparently, Norman Bowman, too.  They are a dream couple and a dream team.

The FRANKIE & BEAUSY band is 

Mairi Dorman-Phaneuf on cello

Han Van Sciver on drums

Ryan McKenzie on piano

FRANKIE & BEAUSY plays 54 Below tonight. November 11 at 7 pm.  Get a reservation HERE.

Frances Ruffelle has a website HERE.

Norman Bowman’s website is HERE.

Photos by Stephen Mosher

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