Peggy Herman has said that she was born to sing the songs of Jerry Herman, who was clearly born to write showstoppers.  Since Ms. Herman likes to perform big, brassy, dramatic tunes in the tradition of Ethel Merman, this particular marriage of singer and song was meant to happen.

Making her Metropolitan Room debut, Ms. Herman presented an eclectic collection of tunes from both Mr. Herman’s most successful musicals – Hello, Dolly!, Mame and La Cage aux Folles and his least successful — Dear World and Mack and Mabel. Hello, Dolly! was represented by three of its incarnations – the original Broadway production (Carol Channing,) a slightly different version with Merman and Hollywood’s treatment (Barbra Streisand).

Ms. Herman began and ended the program with songs from Dolly – “Just Leave Everything to Me,” added to the film score for Streisand, and “World, Take Me Back,” sung by Merman upon joining the Broadway cast in the final year of the six-year run. Merman originally turned down the Dolly role which had been created with her in mind. The song had been written for the original production but dropped once Carol Channing was cast.

With a voice that’s the very essence of musical comedy, Ms. Herman performed every song with pizzazz, style and honesty. She can belt or turn it down, as she did in “Song on the Sand”/“And I Was Beautiful” (La Cage aux Folles and Dear World respectively), warmly romantic and intertwined. “Loving You,” a sweet song from the film version of  Mame, suggested a tangible connection with the audience. In “I Won’t Send Roses” (Mack and Mabel), Herman rendered a stunning theatrical performance singing both the male and female lyrics as film director Mack Sennett and actress Mabel Normand.

“Wherever He Ain’t,” a finger-snapper and showstopper also from Mack and Mabel – “If he’s in heaven, I’ll go to hell,” and “Best in the World” (A Day in Hollywood, A Night in the Ukraine), an evocative song about a stage mother and a daughter who eventually comes to believe that she’s a star long after becoming one, were quite effective.

Crooning to her husband, Ms. Herman sang “I’m with you as long as I live” from “As Simple as That” (Milk and Honey) and “No other music but your sweet music,” a lyric from “No Other Music” (Miss Spectacular), while Herman’s longtime musical director and arranger Alex Rybeck, a MAC winner in 2010, played an exquisite piano solo. Throughout the program, Jered Egan provided impressive support on bass. The act was conceived and directed by Peter Glebo and nine-time Tony Award winner Tommy Tune.

Unlike poor Mabel who had to suffer Mack for the singular “lack of romance in his soul,” Peggy Herman received lots and lots of roses at the conclusion of the show.  Since her spouse of twenty-one years was last seen entering with armloads of flowers, it’s probably a safe bet that her love has not gone unrequited.

There’s only one more opportunity to see Herman on Herman at the Metropolitan Room – Sunday, June 5 at 4:00 PM.

Jerry Osterberg
Cabaret Scenes
May 16, 2011
www.cabaretscenes.org