Carla Gordon brought some Chicago grit to her New York cabaret debut, an affectionate tribute to Beatrice Arthur titled Queen Bea. An established cabaret artist in the Windy City with a taste for the bawdy, Carla displayed polish, professionalism, and a welcome lack of ego as she celebrated Ms. Arthur’s multi-faced career.

Draped in a glittering black dress that highlighted her mane of platinum white hair, Carla made no attempt to imitate Ms. Arthur’s caustic, gimlet-eyed persona. Instead she relied on her own more earthy performance skills to guide the smallish house through a fresh and informative tour of Ms. Arthur’s career, as well as her own appreciation for the late star, acknowledging, “We’re here because Bea Arthur changed my life.”

Carla opened with a medley of “And Then There’s Maude” (the Bergmans/Grusin) and “Thank You for Being a Friend” (Gold)—the theme songs from Ms. Arthur’s two iconic TV series. Honoring Ms. Arthur’s Tony-winning turn as Vera Charles in Jerry Herman’s Mame, she also donned a wizard’s conical hat imbedded with blinking lights for a hilarious deadpan rendition of “The Man in the Moon” followed by “Bosom Buddies” in a show-stopping duet with Beckie Menzie, her Musical Director and accompanist.

Among her baker’s dozen of song titles, Ms. Gordon regaled her audience with an emotionally grounded “Some People” (Sondheim/Styne) that built to a fierce take-no-prisoners determination, an unearthed comic torch song “Garbage” (Harnick) performed by Ms. Arthur in the 1955 Shoestring Revue, and a very touching “It Amazes Me” (Coleman/Leigh), reputedly Ms. Arthur’s favorite song.

Bob Barnett
Cabaret Scenes
August 29, 2010
www.cabaretscenes.org