Australian Nick Christo has a thing for Frances Faye.  While the name Frances Faye (1912-1991) was floating around somewhere in the recesses of my consciousness, Mr. Christo's show sent me running back home to Google her on Wikipedia, and observe her performing on the wondrous, if copyright-infringing, YouTube.

Faye was a brilliantly unique entertainer and an early gay icon.  She sang, swung, kibitzed and played the piano — all at the same time!  She made fun of her appearance, much like Joan Rivers, although she was not an unattractive woman in her younger years.  Notwithstanding that she was a "nice Jewish girl" from Brooklyn, she played the piano as if she was raised in a juke joint, while singing with a strong, brassy and surprisingly flexible voice.  Her grasp on the standards (Gershwin, Porter, et al) was intuitive and although a controversial character, she was beloved during the length of her career.

These days, with Faye largely unremembered, the youthful Christo is on a mission to correct that with The Fabulous Frances Faye, caught at NYC's Don't Tell Mama.  Frances Faye was a hit in Australia.  Even though the folks "down under" were noted for social conservatism, they knew greatness when they encountered it.  Faye was embraced by the country and did 12 tours in her lifetime.

Christo opened his show running in through the back of the room and landing nimbly on stage.  That high energy was matched by his band mates, who would have swung "Ave Maria" if commanded.  Nick chose to sing Faye’s songs and reenact her dialog, while dressed in a tuxedo.  Sort of a non-drag drag show!  It took a while to decipher whether it was Nick speaking or Frances being channeled, but it soon became clear that he was taking turns, acting both as a narrator and reenacting Faye’s persona.

The interaction with the band – “Faye"’s teasing and flirting with them – was delicious.  She meted it out in equal doses to her pianist, Michael Lavine, whom she called "the ex-husband," and to others whose names flew by too quickly to catch:  the drummer who was constantly encouraged to rev up the already thunderous beat, and the horn player.

In reality, Faye, unlike her interpreter, banged away at the piano, that being part of what made her so exciting.  Would that there was a way for Nick to sit at the keyboard, perhaps by having the piano "key-cinched" for a few numbers.  Maybe in the future runs.

As mentioned, Christo offered up much of Ms. Faye's repertoire and patter in the style and demeanor that appears on her YouTube clips.  Although Christo did take his very strong voice down to a falsetto for one number and that was nice, almost all of the show’s selections were extremely high energy and mostly song combinations as well.   While that was possibly the case in Frances' own shows, this one would benefit by taking some creative license and structuring the show with more ebb and flow.

The evening's closing number, "Night and Day" (done with the verse) was a blast, with Nick singing at his best.  As is so often said of promising young performers, with the right guidance, Mr. Christo could have a fruitful career ahead of him.  All he has going for him is looks, personality and voice — not a bad trio by any means.

Melody Breyer-Grell
Cabaret Scenes
January 15, 2009
www.cabaretscenes.org