Review: BROADWAY BARBARA at CVRep

If you’re in the know then you'll understand when you hear the dance moves:  “Jazz Hands”, “Jazz Neck”, “Someone Gave Whiskey To The Orangutan”, “Soft Boiled Egg Hands” and “Razzamuhflazz” you can’t help but chuckle, because you know you’re about see the Broadway Barbara Fosse Tutorial. This begs the question, How can a quickly paced, jump-cut edited, Tik-Tok influencer translate her act to an extended stage quality performance, and not lose that hilariously crisp social media punch? The answer is: She blew the place up (I don’t mean she was flatulent, but I’m sure at some point she provided a bit of her own personal perfume during this one-of-a-kind, absolutely hysterical, performance.)

Theatre aficionados and career underdog devotees from all over the Coachella Valley were in mass support of Diva Broadway Barbara!  Her full name is Barbara Dixon and she announced from the stage that she is no mere entertainer; she is the living, breathing, dancing, screaming embodiment of entertainment itself. A performer with decades of experience, Ms. Dixon is a singer and dancer whose career has touched every medium and genre – from (off-) Broadway to (near-) Hollywood, and everywhere in between. Barbara Dixon would proudly announce that she is “a tireless artist, having logged more audition time without booking a lead role than any other performer in Broadway history. “

When I saw her set list of tunes I practically rolled my eyes. Nothing new, nothing special, nothing rare... Damn, did she ever prove me wrong! Barbara flipped every tune into a priceless continuation of her life story and fatal Broadway attempts. Without giving away too many spoilers of her warbling; highlights were: “Jellicle Ball”, “One Note Samba”, and “Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight)”.

Accompanied by her brilliantly accomplished musical director Benet Braun, and supported by her two perfectly cheesy, aged “back-up” dancers, “The Barbarians” - Mark C. Reis and Chuck Saculla performed with eager showy enthusiasm.

 Broadway Barbara sang, danced, and gave us a pathetic, overly confident, peek into her constipated up-hill incline to the big time. She pulled out all the stops by showing off every aspect of her incessant special skills resume. Barbara tap danced while playing an inexpensive Melodica and played the ukulele while showing off her perfect Polynesian, “Little Grass Shack”.  Barbara has perfected her namedropping skills by telling a few tales out of school: Patti LuPone and her curly fries, playfully going after Linda Lavin, and one Kristi Dawn Chenoweth!!  The highlight and outstanding moment was when she performed a touching duet with her “late husband Dick Dixon” who joined her in spirit for a charming rendition of “Tea For Two”; complete with soft shoe. The visual of this number is outrageous and side-splittingly funny.  

The mastermind and twisted genius wit of Broadway Barbara is the inspired creation of actress Leah Sprecher.  She created Babs while being a member of The Groundlings in Los Angeles and a classic character indeed. Both Sprecher and Broadway Barbara have excellent vocal chops and superb musicality. Her serious encore “The Ladies Who Lunch” was exceptional and displayed her true ability. Run, don’t walk, wherever she is performing to see this “classic triple threat. A singer, a dancer, and the trainer of four illegal bobcats!” – You’ll be glad you did.  

Grand performances, great music, and personality plus make the COACHELLA VALLEY REPERTORY 2024 SUMMER CABARET SERIES among the very best ways to enjoy Downtown Cathedral City. CVRep has scheduled 17 memorable evenings of award-winning talent, vivacious personalities, music and song, levity, and stories that are just waiting to be shared. This year’s Summer Cabaret Series continues to run through July 25, and has been expanded to include two shows every week!

Showtime is at 7PM. Tickets are $50 and on sale now. They may be ordered online at www.cvrep.org, by calling (760) 296-2966, ext. 201, or at the CVRep box office located at 68510 East Palm Canyon Dr., Cathedral City. Special custom ticket packages are available. The box office is open Tuesdays-Saturdays from 10 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. and one hour prior to performances. In order to better serve audiences, patrons requesting accessibility assistance are encouraged to contact the box office at least 24 hours prior to their ticketed performance. Artists, show titles and dates are subject to change.

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