Photo via Milwaukee Rep
“The show must go on” has been a familiar refrain throughout our lives. But the show stopped—all of a sudden. Enter the Age of Pandemic.
That changed last week when live performance returned to the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre. And what a spectacular return it was with the live performance of First Lady of Song: Alexis Roston Sings Ella Fitzgerald.
The return to the theater was a welcome one—still familiar yet changed. The wearing of masks. The taking of temperatures. And all that plexiglass! Still, it was exciting to be back and hear Alexis Roston perform the songbook of a singer who truly remains the First Lady of Song—Ella Fitzgerald.
The 85-minute production (no intermission) simply featured Roston and a superb four-piece backing band (piano, drums, bass, saxophone/flute). It all felt better suited to the clubby intimacy of the Stackner Cabaret, where Roston first appeared in 2016 playing Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill. But then, this is the Age of Pandemic. The Powerhouse Theater is limited to 25 percent capacity (180 seats) for the entire run. So, what seemingly felt lost in the larger space was more than made up for by Roston’s own powerhouse vocals.
This is a performance that is not mere imitation. This is the channeling of what was once America’s favorite songstress who crisscrossed between jazz and pop, classical and soul. And pretty much else everything in between.
Roston’s complete command of her vocals recalled the prowess of Queen Ella at times, be it the rousing show openers, “I Got Rhythm” and “It Don’t’ Mean a Thing” to “comfort music” like the George Gershwin classic “Summertime” to Cole Porter’s “Night and Day.” But Roston was just warming up.
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The Duke Ellington standard, “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore,” showcased her well-honed range to easily shift to the lower registers of the tune, serving the tribute well, as did her own personal flourishes with the Rodgers and Hart classic “My Funny Valentine.”
The storytelling/anecdotes between songs helped to frame Fitzgerald’s own personal tragedies against her enormous popularity in understanding her music and performance. She was orphaned and eventually homeless at 15; her mentor and manager died unexpectedly as her fame was just growing, leaving her in charge of a band of men. And looming overhead throughout was the shroud of racial discrimination.
But then there was the unlikely support of America’s most cinematic superstar: Marilyn Monroe. She requested Fitzgerald be booked at the most popular New York nightclub. Monroe promptly bought the front table and sat there every night of the run. “She was ahead of her time. She just didn’t know it,” was Fitzgerald’s explanation of Monroe’s fandom.
In learning key aspects of the singer’s life, Roston helps us to also understand just how Fitzgerald competed in a field dominated by men, who often covered the same songs. In one of the evening’s highlights, the oft-recorded “Cry Me a River,” Roston took the song to a stratospheric (read: uniquely Ella) place, reaching higher heights with a determined command of her upper registers. And then, the audience was immediately brought back down to the planet Earth with the sultry, smoky, bluesy “Mood Indigo.” The contrast was striking; the energy just as concentrated, haunting in its mournful refrain.
So, here we are—back again in the theater. And after all this time, First Lady of Song: Alexis Roston Sings Ella Fitzgerald is a great place to start the return today in celebration of the singer and her music of the past.
First Lady of Song: Alexis Roston Sings Ella Fitzgerald runs through May 23 in the Quadracci Powerhouse Theater. For more information, visit MilwaukeeRep.com
