On Friday March 9 and Saturday March 10, three legendary Broadway talents 'put on a show' for PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre called
Doin' It For Love...and what a fabulous show it was! Under the musical direction of
David Geist, the three greats -
Lee Roy Reams,
Kaye Ballard and
Liliane Montevecchi - did a couple of tunes together to open "There's No Business Like Show Business" and "You're All the World to Me" and then proceeded to do their individual cabaret acts.
Reams, known primarily as a dancer/singer, is a very funny man and did a 30-minute segment of his night club act, which included a wonderful medley from Hello Dolly and two songs from 42nd Street, the title tune and "I Only Have Eyes For You" which had originally served as his audition for the show.
Ballard was up next with the longest segment - 45 minutes, but totally worth every second. At 86, she's as deliriously funny as ever, still belting out a song with the best of them. Her highlights included salutes to Sophie Tucker "Some of These Days", Fanny Brice "Cooking Breakfast for the One I Love", Jimmy Durante "Young at Heart" and Henny Youngman "As I Remember Him". There was a terrific "Sangue du Me Sangue" in honor of her Nana, a colorful "Lazy Afternoon" which she sang originally in The Golden Apple and "Maybe This Time", which Fred Ebb had written for her.
Tony winner Montevecchi was last up in a 35-minute set with her inimitably eccentric take on life. French through and through, she essayed "Je Cherche un Millionaire", "I Love Paris", "Irma La Douce", "La Vie en Rose" and "Follies Bergere" from her Tony win in Nine. Ms. Montevecchi's humor - she was an original Follies Bergere star - comes off spontaneously, as she would suddenly do a ballet stretch warmup exercise or two or lift herself onto the piano in a deadpan "OK, that's over. What will I do next?" attitude. She's a scream; what a character!
The three concluded the evening with "Our Love Is Here to Stay" while slides on projection screens stage left and stage right showed pictures of a bevy of assorted animals, assisted by PETA, and photos of the three stars with their pets. This was a lovely, classy nostalgic evening of comedy and song that hopefully won't stop here. Maybe a limited run on Broadway and the West End? These great talents should keep working. Reams is warm and special, and Ms. Montevecchi at almost 80 and Ballard at 86 are inspirations to young performers. Just watch them and see how seasoned pros create what appears a seamless performance!
