He may as well be called Ricky Riotous, Ricky Rascal or Ricky Raconteur. This ageless musical sprite’s mischievously merry way of seeing, surviving, relishing and recounting personal show biz experiences is a hoot. For this entertainer/accompanist often accompanied by the wacky or the tacky, truth is stranger than fiction. You can’t make up make-up ladies screeched at by feisty Ethel Merman, an equally domineering alligator blocking his car, gigs from hell…. Like his story of a treacherous rented plane, not everything lands perfectly. But it’s a wild ride, like his thrown-together Yom Kippur church wedding to a woman. (He survived that, too.) Ricky Ritzel’s energy is boundless. Between stories, he plays and sings plucky songs in his impish, grinning way.  He compares his age to a timeline of inventions in “Older Than, Younger Than” by witty Rick Crom. He pops up from the piano like an R-rated jack-in-the-box with another tale of tempers, terror, or tumultuous trivia. Many have gotten to know ubiquitous Ricky from numerous piano bar jobs, as musical director of singers and drag queens of all stripes and types, as half of the wack muzak mock Lounge-O-Leers, and MAC president. He’s a delightful devilish, eager entertainer centerstage.

Ricky Ritzel continues at the Metropolitan Room Dec. 10 & 16.

Rob Lester
Cabaret Scenes
November 15, 2009
www.cabaretscenes.org