Review: Lucie Arnaz Celebrates A Life On Stage with I GOT THE JOB at 54 Below

Lucie Arnaz has had a long and varied career, starting as a child actor on television under the watchful eyes of her showbiz parents Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Since those early days, she has carved out a career on stage, too, from playing regional shows to originating roles on Broadway and the West End. The crowd at 54 Below on Thursday, July 20, was treated to a setlist of songs from a bevy of roles she has played or desired to play.

Musically directed by long-time collaborator and stellar musician Ron Abel, Arnaz entered Broadway’s supper room with a gorgeous rendition of “A Lot of Livin’ To Do” from Strouse and Adams’ Bye Bye Birdie, showcasing her impeccable phrasing. She then reminded an audience member to put their phone away before launching into her opening patter about the premise of the show. She shared how her parents built a small stage in their garage to encourage her love of performing and thanked her Daddy (Desi Arnaz) up above for inspiring her to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. Her tale of being a student at an all-girls Catholic school and playing “loose girls” like Ado Annie, whilst simultaneously inducing laughter at sharing that Heidi Fleiss had attended the same school, made for entertaining patter. Following this, she delivered a sparkling rendition of “Out of My Dreams” from Oklahoma, proving that she can play demure roles too. Ron Abel’s arrangement and backing vocals added an extra layer of gorgeousness to the number.  

Arnaz is a great character actress and demonstrated this with two songs from Irving Berlin’s Annie Get Your Gun as she shared her experiences of playing the show on Jones Beach in the late 70s. It was during this run that she received a telegram from Berlin himself (note to Gen Alphas: if you’re unsure what this is, ask your grandparents)! Her specificity in each number was second to none – each phrase delivered with careful intention.

Next up were songs from They’re Playing Our Song, the musical written by Marvin Hamlisch, Neil Simon and Carole Bayer Sager, based on Hamlisch and Sager’s real-life relationship. She shared how Hamlisch once suggested that they take a song down for her and how she pushed back, worrying that they might replace her if they thought she couldn’t sing it as written, and how he lovingly responded, “You’ve got to respect the instrument you’ve been given,” ensuring that he meant well and wanted her to shine. And shine she did with her rendition of the title song – she quite simply nailed it!

Other highlights included a sassy rendition of “Who’s The Man?” from The Witches of Eastwick, another masterclass in specificity with “Loose Ends” from the same show, hilarious patter about going up on a lyric and how one should never congratulate oneself in the middle of a performance, a striking, slow-building rendition of “Wherever He Ain’t” from Mack & Mabel, and sharing her joy at being a grandmother with “No Time At All,” the song she had sung swinging from a trapeze in the acrobatic revival of Pippin in which she played Grandma Berthe.

Overall, Arnaz proved why she indeed got so many jobs, and how she continues to shine on stage today!

Cover photo by Conor Weiss. (View his whole set of photos from the July 18th performance.)

For more at 54 Below, visit their website at 54below.org.

Learn more about Lucie Arnaz on her website.

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