Review: Norbert Leo Butz's GIRLS, GIRLS, GIRLS Is Art, Art, Art at 54 Below

The advertising for GIRLS, GIRLS, GIRLS tells us that this is the first time in nine years that Norbert Leo Butz has brought his show back to 54 Below.   The same advertising says the show is acclaimed and quotes a very respected reviewer from a very respectable newspaper.  So what is there to be said that hasn’t already been said, and with more distinction (not to mention being less voluble)?  Probably nothing.  But the good folks at 54 Below invited me to this new run of the Tony Award winner’s show, and I went, and I do have something to say, and all of it is positive.

I had no idea.  I had no idea what I was seeing, no idea what to expect, and (frankly) no idea how great Norbert Leo Butz was going to be as a solo performer.  I’ve seen the gentleman onstage in plays repeatedly and his talents as an actor are prodigious.  But taking a script and a role and bringing it all to life on the theatrical stage is different than being oneself on the cabaret stage… or so I thought.  Norbert Leo Butz had other ideas, clearly, for GIRLS, GIRLS, GIRLS is no ordinary cabaret or concert or club act.  This is one of the most original and sophisticated shows I think I’ve ever seen… maybe even THE most.  I mean, how easy would it be for a two-time Tony winner to go up on the stage and sing songs from all the shows they have done?  But Norbert Leo Butz is an artist, and that didn’t seem to fit his artistic mission statement.  So, instead, he took the jumping-off place of a dinner table conversation with the women in his life (one wife, three daughters) and he jumped… right into a volume of Greek mythology, there to study females and learn, better, how to communicate with and understand the women in his life.  Ladies and gentlemen, a play.  And this play has been staged, stage-managed, and acted out as beautifully and brilliantly as a person could imagine, be they the person on the stage or the person in the seat out front.  With a script as flawlessly constructed as that of a prize-winning piece of theater, classical or modern, GIRLS, GIRLS, GIRLS, allows Mr. Butz to not only teach his audience something about fiction and females, it allows him to comment on misogyny, feminism, humanity, and the importance of respecting the women in our world and doing right by them.  This, he does with all the passion of an actor portraying a role and a playwright creating that role.  In his conversation with the audience, the book to which he refers, and his band members, he eats the air in every detailed attempt at getting his story across.  In his relationship with the music, the lyrics, the songwriters, and the story arc of his cabaret play, he stamps around the stage like Bette Davis and dances to the music like Mick Jagger.  This force of nature in a man suit has come to astound while being profound, and, that, he achieves for every second of his eighty-minute musical production.

And (are you ready for this?) it’s a rock show.  There is only one show tune sung, and it’s a rock and roll show tune.  That makes the evening even more authentic because (and you can tell) Norbert Leo Butz may do musicals but he should’ve been a rock star.  The vocal power defies description.  The ability to style everything from “Come On Eileen” (have mercy) to “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love To Town” without discernible difficulty in genre change is so impressive as to elicit smiles and laughter, but any audience member not smiling and laughing with joy will be drawn in by the rock star moves of a man who punctuates percussion with power kicks and air punches.  GIRLS, GIRLS, GIRLS is a love fest - it’s a love fest for women, for the Goddesses Butz discusses, the music and music makers he is presenting, and for Butz himself.  A person who walked in off the street never having seen a Broadway musical would leave 54 Below, only to go home to do a deep dive into Butz’s career and artistry.  There isn’t a moment of this program that doesn’t hold your attention or hold your heart, and, it has to be said, a big part of that is the fact that Butz is being backed by one of the best bands this writer has ever heard (please see the names of the musicians at the end of this article): they sound sensational, and if it wouldn’t block the people sitting behind you, a person might feel compelled to stand at their table and dance to the sounds the musicians are creating, in order to carry Norbert’s storytelling as high up as the gods themselves.

Not wanting to give away all the story secrets, I would like to limit both my discussion of the plotline to GIRLS, GIRLS, GIRLS, as well as the set list, but, by way of offering a teaser, I will say that my particular attention was caught by performances of “Mrs. LeRoy Brown” (Loretta Lynn!), “Tecumseh Valley” and Patty Griffin’s “Mary” - but, if I’m being honest, when I take notes at a show, I put a star next to song titles that really get my attention, and my setlist sheet for Girls, Girls, Girls looks a map of the planetarium.  I just really cannot communicate, deeply enough, the high esteem in which I hold this musical cabaret and the men who created it, starting with the man that I, now, consider The King of Cool: Norbert Leo Butz.

Girls, Girls, Girls continues its run at 54 Below with shows tonight (March 12), and tomorrow night (March 13) with a livestream of tomorrow night’s show.  I encourage (urge) everyone to treat themselves to the show - what if he waits another nine years to do it again?   HERE is the link to the live show and HERE is the link to the live stream.

The GIRLS, GIRLS, GIRLS band is Jimmy Leahey on Guitar, Alan Stevens Hewitt on Bass, Khaled Tabbara on Acoustic Guitar, and Billy LaGuardia on Drums.  Musical Director Michael J. Moritz Jr. is on the piano and Norbert Leo Butz works with a guitar during the show, as well.

Find Norbert Leo Butz online HERE.

Photos by Stephen Mosher

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