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"Spectacular
and influential cabaret stars Andrea Marcovicci and Julie Wilson must
make room for Anne Kerry Ford. Last year Ford wowed audiences with her
gorgeous, stunningly rich soprano tones as she illuminated the songs of
Sondheim and Hammerstein. Now those fortunate to see her at The Gardenia
this Monday will be part of the development of her Kurt Weill revue, in
which this magnificent singer reaches to the bottom of her vocal range
to pull out emotional moments that soar beyond cabaret into moving theater.
Weill is best known for his collaborations with Bertolt Brecht, especially
"The Threepenny Opera" and "Happy End" from which she culls
her most hard-hitting numbers, "Pirate Jenny" and "Surabaya
Johnny". But Ford demonstrates the remarkable range of the great German
composer, who also worked with American wordsmiths Ira Gershwin, Alan
J Lerner, Langston Hughes, Ogden Nash and others to create some delightfully
lighthearted and romantic music, as well as the hefty morality plays that
are the Brecht songs. What Ford captures in Weill's music, even in his
lightest vein, is an inherent pain, which she translates with a fine actor's
dexterity. This workshop performance is in preparation for her upcoming
radio and television broadcast with the West German Radio Orchestra, celebrating
Weill's centennial- the event will also be recorded as a CD..." |