The life, times and music of Johnny Mercer are always cause for celebration, but especially the 100^th Centennial. Having written over 1000 songs and seven Broadway shows with over 200 collaborators, Mercer is, by far, one of America’s greatest lyricist-composers.

It takes someone with a mind for in depth research and a love of music to unearth the detail and mystery in bringing Mercer’s life and works to the stage.  Someone like Morgan Sills!  Morgan does this with intelligence, skill and an ability to tell the story creatively. Possessing a ‘tongue-in-cheek’ humor and sensibility, Sills sets the tone of the show, calling it a "parlour evening.’"He creates vignettes of musical medleys of Mercer’s life opening with “Pardon My Southern Accent” (music, Matt Malneck), “Little Ol’ Tune,” “Day In-Day Out” (music Rube Bloom) “And The Angels Sing” (music Ziggy Elman).  After all, Mercer was a southern boy born in Savannah, Ga.

Moving through Mercer’s life and career in this manner, Mercer meets Ginger (a Jewish chorus girl from Brooklyn who became his wife) in 1930 when he wrote his first published song for the Garrick Gaieties, “Out of Breath and Scared to Death of You.”  He wooed Ginger with “Too Marvelous For Words” (music, Richard Whiting) and the swinging “Baby, Don’t You Quit Now.” (music, Jimmie Rowles). Ginger was dating Bing Crosby at the time.

Sills is a low key kinda guy with a casual manner and a pleasant tenor voice. His presentation is direct and fun when required, i.e. the novelty song medley “Lock The Barn Door,” “I Can Spell Banana” and “The Square of the Hypotenuse.”  Talking about the first piano song he ever learned to play, Sills becomes a 6 year old child as he sings “Glow Worm” – his version also playing a child-like piano part. It is both heart warming and funny in its simplicity.

Mercer’s life story evolves Hollywood-style when at the age of 31 he falls in love with another woman at a party at Bob Hope’s. She is only 18 years old.  Mercer writes “I Remember You” (music Victor Schertzinger) and Ginger knows he didn’t write it about her. No, Mercer wrote it for the other woman — Judy Garland — who also inspired the lyric to “That Old Black Magic.”

In the 1950s Mercer wrote the never ending and witty choruses for “Spring, Spring, Spring” for the film Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, reinventing himself  in the 1960s to keep up with the times with songs like “Days of Wine and Roses” (music, Henry Mancini) where he says the lyrics just poured out of him; that “God wrote the lyric. All I did was take it down.”  Morgan does great justice to the song in his straightforward presentation.

Together with director Barry Kleinbort, Sills’ smart research and presentation of The Johnny Mercer Songbook enables the audience to move through the life experiences of the love, sadness and loss of one of America’s dearly beloved songwriters. Musical direction and arrangements are by Ed Goldschneider with Steve Millhouse on bass and Chris Biesterfeldt on guitar.

The show runs consecutive Tuesdays throughout January at the Metropolitan Room at 7 p.m.

Sandi Durell
Cabaret Scenes
Janaury 6, 2009
www.cabaretscenes.org