Review: Klea Blackhurst & Billy Stritch Toast Hoagy Carmichael at Chelsea Table + Stage

In show business, there are very few sure things. But Klea Blackhurst and Billy Stritch singing songs by Hoagy Carmichael is about as close as it gets. Hoagy Carmichael had a career that spanned more than 40 years. He, along with Frank Loesser and Irving Berlin, created most of the soundtrack of World War 2. Carmichael has a catalog of hits that are not widely associated with him. Listening to an evening of his work is an endless stream of “Oh wow, he wrote THAT?" He was a composer and a lyricist, although he only rarely wrote the two together, and he worked with some of the biggest names in the business. He is also more recognizable than most of his contemporaries because of his numerous cameo appearances in films, usually playing a craggy pianist with a jaunty nickname.

Klea Blackhurst is always a treasure no matter what she is singing. She always makes the song first-rate. For those of you who have not had the pleasure of seeing her perform, she is one part Ethel Merman, one part Faith Prince, and a smattering of Martha Raye all filtered through a patina of jazz stylings. She is a big performer in a small package who owns whatever room she’s in.

As for Billy Stritch, he has for years been New York’s go-to musical director and accompanist. His skill at the keyboard is unmatched and his creativity is off the charts. But his gifts as a crooner have been somewhat overshadowed by his pianistic acrobatics. He has a voice that is as sweet and smooth as a chocolate mousse. And like a fine dessert it is worth waiting for. He is also an engaging raconteur who knows the Great American Songbook backward and forward and invites every audience to share his passion.

Combined with Blackhurst, their act is like having a time machine to a less frenetic time when supper clubs were aprés-theatre staples. They work off each other like an old married couple, often finishing each other's sentences. Their wit is quick and intelligent and for the most part self-deprecating. They are simultaneously elegant, bawdy, gossipy, urbane, and down-to-earth. If Elaine May and Mike Nichols had been singers, they would be Klea Blackhurst and Billy Stritch.

Their show, DREAMING OF A SONG: The Music of Hoagy Carmichael, is a travelogue through the composer's life from his Indiana roots to his Academy Award-winning Hollywood career. Carmichael was one of the few great composers of the golden age who was not part of the New York smart set. His work always retained a straightforward Midwestern sensibility. And unlike his New York colleagues, his work was intimate and personal. All the hits you would expect are here, from “Stardust,” probably one of the most recorded songs of all time to “Heart and Soul,” one of the most recognized. In the “I didn’t know he wrote that” category, Stritch was particularly fine on  “Georgia on My Mind” which was cleverly combined with his lesser-known song “Can’t Get Indiana Off My Mind. Blackhurst was coy and flirty singing “Ain’t There Anyone Here for Love?” from the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. The song was combined with the less-known “When Love Goes Wrong” from the same film. Another film song, “Two Sleepy People,” was played for cozy charm. “I Get Along Without You Very Well” was composed to a poem sent to Carmichael from the newspaper. After keeping it in a drawer for several years he created the haunting theme. “Skylark” is one of the most poetic songs in the Great American Songbook. It was tenderly performed by Blackhurst. My personal favorite song by Hoagy Carmichael “The Nearness of You” got a beautiful arrangement by Billy Stritch.

Besides these classic hits, there were some more obscure tunes to show us the composer's versatility. “One Morning in May,” "Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief,” “Come Easy, Go Easy Love,” “How Little We Know,” “In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening,” “Billy-a-dick,” and “My Resistance is Low” rounded out this marvelous evening of Carmichael tunes. The glamorous room at Chelsea Table + Stage was the perfect backdrop for this evening of classics from yesteryear. The concert is part of Klea Blackhurst’s “box set” series in which she revives several shows from the past for an encore. Keep your eye on the Chelsea Table + Stage page for upcoming shows in the series.

Hoagy Carmichael, despite having written some perennial favorites, has never gotten the attention of his titanic Broadway contemporaries Gershwin, Porter, Loesser, and Berlin. What a treat to have Klea Blackhurst and Billy Stritch shine such a loving spotlight on this beloved and versatile artist.

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For more about Klea Blackhurst go to kleablackhurst.com.

To learn about Billy Stritch, visit billystritch.com.

For tickets and information on the “box set” series and more great shows at Chelsea Table and Stage go to chelseatableandstage.com.

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