Billie Roe is back in town.  After 30 years, she takes on the role of one tough dame who’s here to spill the scoop about Dangerous Women: Life in Film Noir, those dames you love to watch as they get away with murder — or not. The kind of doll in whose ear Robert Mitchum murmurs, “You’re like a leaf that the wind blows from one gutter to another.”  No sweet “hasta la vista” for a dame like this. When she’s tired of some gorilla, she’s more likely to snarl, “Pack up, sucker, and kiss this world goodbye.”

Such cynical one-liners and put-downs, says Roe in this delightful, well-crafted show, came about after the post-war reinforcement of the Will Hayes Production Code, censoring violence, sexuality and words like “whore” and “virgin.” Roe delivers a clever narrative tune about the Hayes Code, inspired by “Doin’ the Production Code” (Frank Lazarus and Dick Vosburg from A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine).  Noir classics like The Maltese Falcon with Humphrey Bogart proved a more sophisticated, sharper crime drama with quicksilver dialogue. Roe delivers an “Homage to Bogie,” mixing dialogue from Key Largo with tunes “Key Largo”and Nik Kershaw’s 1980s songs, “Bogart” and “James Cagney,” reminding us of the enduring mystique of these heroes with lyrics like, “Talk to me Bogart/what would you do now?” and “Talk tougher than James Cagney.”

Roe’s song list ranges over a half century, from the suave 1940s “Harlem Nocturne” (agen and Dick Rogers/Sid Robin) to Lady Gaga and Nadir Khayat’s 2008 hit, “Poker Face”, proof that when subtlety is lost, so is mystique. Donning a small hat with a veil, she gets in the gal-singer mood for “Moonlight Cocktails” (Kim Gannon/Luckeyth Roberts). Wearing a fedora, “Gotta Move” takes a fast and furious drive down “Route 66” and Roe adeptly shows nuanced emotion in Earl Brent and Matt Dennis’, “Angel Eyes” and an accusatory, “You Don’t Know What Love Is” (Don Ray/Gene DePaul).

This show is such fun that you may be tempted to call Netflix for films like The Big Heat or Out of the Past.) Warning, however, those films won’t include Roe’s lusty vocals, sharp sass and tongue-in-cheek wit, or the dynamism of Musialc Director/pianist Steven Ray Watkins’ trio. Even renowned directors like John Huston or Fritz Lang may not present as fresh a look at this genre as did Lennie Watts, who matched a diverse song list to snap neatly in place with Roe’s crisp patter. With Jason Ellis’s atmosphere of sound and light, Dangerous Women shows the machinations of a smooth hand, hard-boiled sense of humor and a winning introduction to the talented Billie Roe.

Andrew Lloyd Webber, Don Black and Christopher Hampton’s “As If We Never Said Goodbye” takes an appropriate turn toward the end of the show, which finally closes with a fiery “Peter Gun Theme” (Henry Mancini/Jay Livingston, Ray Evans).

This is the kind of show that could enjoy a continuous run, but even if you are not a film noir fan, you’ll enjoy this look-back at those ambivalently immoral wisecrackers in Billie Roe’s entertaining Dangerous Women: Life in Film Noir.

Billie Roe returns to Don't Tell Mama Nov. 18 & 25 at 7:00.

Elizabeth Ahlfors
Cabaret Scenes
November 4, 2011
www.cabaretscenes.org