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Where Did The Gentleman Go? The Songs of Bobby Troup & The Life of Scotty Bowers
Myra Chanin
Theater Pizzazz
November 14, 2018
Pangea is a magical space. Change the overhead lights to fuchsia and the art deco-cum-SNL-conehead wall sconces move the setting from Weimar Berlin – its locale during my last visit – to post-WWII Hollywood, where Gentlemen Number One, the tall, clean-shaven, dressed to the nines in a sleek grey tweedy tuxedo with black satin lapels and matching bow tie, Jeff Macauley, juxtaposes the lives of two former marines who managed to thrive in Hollywood.
Gentlemen Number 2 is Musician/Bandleader/Composer Bobby Troup, best remembered for writing Nat King Cole’s early hit, “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66” in 1946. In addition, Troup was also the full-time suitor and later the devoted husband of chanteuse Julie London, the one-time Mrs. Dragnet who “looked like a million bucks,” to her ex, Dragnet’s Jack Webb, when he saw her in court during their divorce. Webb’s estimate was actually a bit low. Ms. London was awarded two million dollars for Webb’s neglect.The third chap was Scotty Bowers,
Hollywood’s Gentlemen Hustler-cum-LA’s legendary Pimp to the Stars, a fellow who understood the value of always keeping his mouth shut and his fly unzipped.According to Macauley, Troup and Bowers took different but intersecting paths to fulfillment after helping rid the world of fascism – at least for the nonce. Troup worked his way up from music to TV stardom on the hit TV series called “Emergency!” produced by his wife’s ex-husband Jack Webb.
Bowers, a Chicago guy who’d survived the bloody battle of Iwo Jima, got a job pumping gas at the Richfield Oil station at Van Ness and Hollywood Blvd until an invitation to go “swimming” with Walter Pidgeon – Mr. Miniver – inspired him to transform Richfield into a “full service” gas station and begin a new career, having or supplying sex to just about every male and female star in Hollywood including a threesome with Ava and Lana at the home of OMG! The Chairman of the Board when Old Blue Eyes was out of town. He moved on into bartending with his legendary 10-inch swivel stick and supplied full service also in that capacity. Mum was his word until 2012 when Gore Vidal instructed him to tell all. Full Service: My Adventures in Hollywood and the Secret Sex Lives of the Stars published by Grove Press appeared in 2012 followed by a film documentary about him in 2017 entitled Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood. Both include examples of the sexual largesse supplied to the likes of Tyrone Power, Charles Laughton, Kathrine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Randolph Scott, Errol Flynn, William Holden, Cecil Beaton, Franklin Pangborn, J. Edgar Hoover and (gasp!) even the Duke and Duchess of Windsor! He finally curtailed his sexual activities and stuck to bartending alone only after AIDS became the grim reaper. I actually met Scotty professionally, not re his profession but re mine as the booking producer of a national AM all night talk radio show. I believe Scotty was brought to the show by Bunny Ranch owner, Dennis Hof, whose recent death has not interfered with his being elected a congressman by a Republican majority.
Bobby Troup’s music is lush, languorous, romantic and tropical. Macauley and his musical director Tex Arnold really handled Troup’s songs well. Despite being a devote of Your Hit Parade (both the magazine and the radio show) I was only familiar with “Route 66,” “The Three Bears” and “Free and Easy,” which Macauley’s Music Director Tex Arnold played with a lively, swinging beat. For 25 years, Arnold was musical director for the legendary Margaret Whiting, has also written orchestrations for the Lincoln Center American Songbook series and for Carnegie Hall tributes to the song-writing teams of Alan and Marilyn Bergman and Betty Comden and Adolph Green and has also accompanied Broadway stars Melissa Errico at the Cafe Carlyle and Barbara Cook in concerts throughout the country.
Macauley’s contagious enthusiasm for musical history and his smooth, enduring baritone are perfect ingredients for an interesting evening. He presents curious facts in a delightful way. His voice has an odd and appealing resonance thanks to his subtle but pleasant vibrato with his lungs supplying his voice with a restrained echo chamber. I don’t know if it’s natural or deliberate but it makes his singing very intriguing.
Hollywood Party – Movie Songs: 1928-1936 ★★★★☆
David Hurst
New York Arts Review
December 29, 2017
No one likes being late to a party, but that’s how I felt recently watching the supremely entertaining Jeff Macauley holding court at Pangea in the smartest show in town, Hollywood Party – Movie Songs: 1928-1936. As he unfurled one delicious, forgotten gem after another I wondered how Macauley’s insouciant blend of wit, charm and sophistication could have eluded me for so long. After all, he’d won a Bistro Award in 1998 for MWAH! The Dinah Shore Show (which he encored in 2016 to critical raves) and has been MAC nominated the last two years for Best Male Vocalist. Where had I been? Why had no one told me? Ah well, better late than never! And now that I’m at the party, wild horses couldn’t drag me away.
It only takes glancing at the titles of Macauley’s shows to see why he’s the toast of the town and a tastemaker in style: It Was Me: The Lyrics of Norman Gimbel, Mr. Lucky: The Songs of Henry Mancini and Le Grand Tour: The Music of Michel Legrand. A performer with panache and savvy, Macauley’s Hollywood Party is actually a revival of a show he created more than 20 years ago. But it’s a testament to Macauley’s presentation and his material’s timelessness that Hollywood Party remains a breath of fresh air and a thrill to experience.
Boasting intuitive arrangements and the sensitive playing of the superb Tex Arnold, in Hollywood Party Macauley steps back in time to the Golden Age of film music with a collection of rarities, obscure oddities and – most delightfully – completely unknown songs. When was the last time you watched a cabaret show and had never heard the vast majority of songs being performed? And how exciting is that? As our emcee and bon vivant narrator, Macauley relishes in turning the pages of time, in this case from 1928 to 1936. Boasting writers as disparate as Rodgers & Hart, Dorothy Parker and Yip Harburg, you’ll also experience Herman Hupfeld, Clifford Grey & Victor Schertzinger and George Marion & Richard Whiting. The lyrics Macauley has chosen are unerringly smart, funny and frivolous – all qualities Macauley himself embodies as he takes us into his confidence.
Cutting a cool figure in his tuxedo, Macauley’s sex appeal is as magnetic as it is dangerous. His light, lyric baritone often roams into tenor territory but he never pushes, caressing the notes with an even fineness that’s a welcome relief from the glut of belters who equate volume with emotion. Younger singers would do well to emulate Macauley’s sumptuous phrasing and consummate breath-control. It’s refreshing to watch a show where the performer understands the lyric is paramount, and to take breaths where dictated by the text. No breaking up phrases or taking a gigantic breath before the last word in a sentence for Macauley. It’s this attention to presentation, along with his eclectic taste in repertoire, that Macauley reminds me of the terrific Chicago-based performer Justin Hayford. They both have a gentle approach to their material but there’s always a sly wink in the execution. And that wink is everything.
Whether he’s advising us to “Never Swat A Fly” (from Just Imagine, 1930 – Fox: by B.G. De Sylva, Lew Brown and Ray Henderson) or to “Bend Down Sister” (from Palmy Days, 1931 – United Artists: by Ballard MacDonald/Dave Silverstein and Con Conrad), Macauley is genuinely having fun and his rapt audience is along for the ride. Selfishly, I can’t wait to see what he does next!
Le Grand Tour: The Music of Michel Legrand
Marilyn Lester
Cabaret Scenes
March 20, 2017
Jeff Macauley cuts a fine figure on stage. Slim and fit in a natty tuxedo, he looks the picture of Gallic elegance. In Le Grand Tour: The Music of Michel Legrand, he delivers a polished show with both classic and lesser-known numbers, drawn from an extraordinary body of work. Legrand was, if nothing else, prolific, having written for about 250 films, including The Umbrellas of Cherbourg,The Young Girls of Rochefort, and Yentl. This show is the third in Macauley’s Easy-Listening Trilogy--tributes to the great movie songwriters of the 1960s through the ’80s.
The Young Girls of Rochefort was most amply represented among the many films in the Legrand repertoire, with the accordianiste-like “We Travel ‘Round,” plus “Sailors in Waterfront Saloons” and “To Love” (all lyrics by Julian More and Earl Brown). Macauley is enthusiastic about his subject, conveying an information-packed narrative that at moments teeters to the edge of “too long,” but quickly catches itself and pulls back into the desired object of the evening: song. It’s the words that Macauley does best. His voice is pleasant, and is wisely used to tell the story—without gimmicks. He’s more in the groove with upbeat numbers, such as the quirky “Sweet Gingerbread Man” (lyrics: Alan & Marilyn Bergman) than with ballads. With those slower numbers, such as “I Will Wait for You”/”Watch What Happens” (both with lyrics by Norman Gimbel), Macauley focuses on the lyrics, with incisive interpretation of the material as well as an understanding of technique.
He is also not without a certain wit (we reckon you’ve already noticed the pun in the title of the show). A segment grouping summer songs—“Once Upon a Summertime” (lyrics: Johnny Mercer), “Summer Me, Winter Me” and “The Summer Knows” (the Bergmans)—saw the singer remove his tuxedo jacket to metaphorically cope with the heat. Finally, a lovely “What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?” (the Bergmans) ended this French confection, with an encore of “You Must Believe in Spring” (the Bergmans). Arrangements by Musical Director/pianist Tex Arnold were creatively magnifique. Jon Burr, a virtuoso of the upright bass, was especially inspirational in applying beautiful bowing technique throughout the show.
MWAH!: The Dinah Shore Show
Victoria Ordin
BroadwayWorld.com
February 20, 2016
Jeff Macauley loves Dinah Shore. That's usually the case when a cabaret performer devotes an entire show to a star's body of work. But there's affection and admiration, and then there's all-encompassing passion and adoration that informs the performer's every note, lyric, and anecdote, and thereby imparts that love to us (whether or not we were previously fans). By that standard, MWAH! The Dinah Shore Show, Macauley's 1998 Backstage Bistro Award Winner for "Outstanding Theme Show" (revived last Saturday night as part of Stephen Hanks' monthly New York Cabaret's Greatest Hits series at the Metropolitan Room) is one of the most successful shows of its kind I've seen.
Full disclosure: As the daughter of a relatively recently deceased WWII veteran who worshiped Dinah, I had an anti-Dinah bias going in. At 44, I'm too young to have seen the television shows (which after Macauley's tribute I'm convinced I would have liked), and I wasn't a fan of her unusual and highly stylized voice in spite of her perfect pitch and artful phrasing. But Macauley combines a staggering amount of biographical information with specific context for each song, driving home the sheer magnitude of Dinah's stardom, chutzpah, versatility, and passion for a wide range of musical genres. Unlike some shows, which feel thrown together, MWAH! is exceptionally well conceived.
After a sweetly sung "Shoo Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy" (Sammy Gallop/Guy Wood), Macauley delivers a breathless catalogue of Dinah's recording, radio, film and TV accomplishments that sets the pace and tone for the hilarity that follows. Dubbed the "Nashville Nightingale," Dinah Shore (nee Frances) had 92 charted hits on Joel Whitburn's "Pop Hits 1890-1954," which predated the Billboard Charts. The daughter of Jewish immigrants from Russia, Dinah overcame childhood polio and went on to win eight Emmys and release nine albums after earning a degree in sociology at Vanderbilt University. The biggest musical star of the 1940s (partly as a result of her devotion to the troops), Dinah outsold all other artists combined at Columbia Records in that decade.
As if all this were not enough, Dinah was what Macauley calls "sex-positive," a thoroughly modern woman long before Women's Lib. "Yes, My Darling Daughter" (Jack Lawrence) reached #10 on the pre-Billboard charts. Macauley convincingly takes on the persona of the mother who wants to encourage her young daughter to behave properly with men, but gives her tacit permission, as Macauley puts it, "to go for it."
But Dinah was not an instant success. Upon her move to New York, she failed to get into the big bands (likeTommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller) and sang for free on radio. Macauley traces the intimate style for which Dinah became famous to her peculiar comfort with "the red light," which did not intimidate the young singer in the least. Instead of taking it as a symbol of a vast audience, she pretended to be singing to one person only. Appearing with Frank Sinatra in the late 1930s, Dinah's days of singing for free ended with "Yes, My Darling Daughter," her first gold record.
Macauley sings "(As Long As You're Not In Love With Anyone Else) Why Don't You Fall In Love With Me?" (Al Lewis/Mabel Wayne" and "Dearly Beloved" (Johnny Mercer/Jerome Kern), #3 and #10 respectively, with conviction, but his voice sounds slightly thin here (and elsewhere) and not as smooth as one would like. He's on stronger ground with "Blues in the Night" (Johnny Mercer/Harold Arlen), which impressed itself on the gay teen in Swarthmore, PA who listened to Dinah with his mother. If Dinah--who managed to marry George Montgomery though he was then with Hedy Lamarr, arguably the world's most beautiful woman alive (and physicist to boot!)--couldn't find lasting love, he thought to himself, "What chance do I have?" The story of Dinah's and George's courtship and marriage is one of the show's most vivid.
"He Wears a Pair of Silver Wings" (Eric Mashwitz/Michael Carr" precedes the show's vocally strongest trio of songs: "Skylark" (Johnny Mercer/Hoagy Carmichael), "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To" (Cole Porter), and "I'll Walk Alone" (Sammy Caan/Jule Styne). The talented musical director Daryl Kojak plays these numbers with particular feeling, anticipating the breathtaking piano solo in the melancholy Joan Baez song later in the show, "Diamonds and Rust," which sounds like a babbling brook.
The next part of the show features songs from Dinah's film career, which in her (unaccountable) view, never took off because she was insufficiently photogenic. The uptempo "Mad About Him, Sad Without Him, How Can I Be Glad Without Him Blues" (Larry Markes/Dick Charles) lightens the mood before "Tess' Torch Song" (Ted Koehler/Harold Arlen). Macauley artfully joins "I Love You For Sentimental Reasons" (Deek Watson/Pat Best) to another #2 hit, "I Wish I Didn't Love You So" (Frank Loesser), ending the latter with lines from the former.
Macauley is genuinely standup-comic funny throughout, but the humor hits a high point when he asks the audience, "So what's the difference between this show in 1997 and today?" "EBAY!" he proclaims, before launching into an uproarious show-and-tell, complete with Dinah paraphernalia accumulated over the years, including potholders, jackets, belt buckles, paper dolls, coloring books, cookbooks, and album jackets. The performer's Dinah worship might be borderline troubling if not for the innocent love the performer feels for the funny, beautiful, and talented lady who started "the affair [with Burt Reynolds] that broke all the rules." Macauley's bits about his mother, who gossiped about the star as if they were personal friends, are truly hilarious. I was not the only one surprised at Dinah's daring in her later years; she invited David Bowie and Iggy Pop on her show, revealing an admirable ability to change with the times.
Fittingly, "Buttons and Bows" (Jay Livingston/Ray Evans)--which remained at #1 for 10 weeks-is the show's musical highlight. Macauley does a nice job with the theme song of her long-time TV sponsor, "See The USA In Your Chevrolet" (Leon Carr/Leo Corday), well introduced by a story about his family's short-lived station wagon. Macauley wraps with "When I Grow Too Old To Dream" (Oscar Hammerstein II/Sigmund Romberg), not a hit for Dinah, but a strong finish to a highly entertaining show about the singer whose voice the eight-year-old son of Dinah Shore Chevy Show director, Bob Banner, aptly described as "warm in the middle and soft around the edges."
Mr. Lucky: The Music of Henry Mancini
Remy Block
BroadwayWorld.com
July 2, 2015
JEFF MACAULEY's Charming, Sophisticated Tribute to the Music of Henry Mancini Hits All the Right Notes at the Metropolitan Room
In Mr. Lucky, Jeff Macauley's urbane cabaret show featuring the songs of Henry Mancini, (which recently finished a three-show run at the Metropolitan Room) you learn that the famed composer came by his luck and success the old-fashioned way: single-minded purpose fueled by hard work and determination. Yet, Macauley, a former Bistro Award winner, makes telling Mancini's story look so easy. Debonair in his impeccable suit and fashionable specs, the singer uses a light touch to deliver songs he was determined to bring out of the background and into the spotlight.
Through a satisfying mixture of well-known songs and more obscure tunes, Macauley weaves tidbits of personal history, movie reviews, and Mancini trivia together for a pithy between songs narrative. He sought out lyrics to favorite movie and TV themes, such as Bye, Bye, popularly known as the Peter Gunn Theme, andBaby Elephant Walk from the 1962 movie Hatari. Macauley also searched for lyrics to the beloved signature tune from the Pink Panther movies. He didn't find any. However, he did discover the reason for the lack of words: Johnny Mercer, who provided lyrics for the entire soundtrack, told Mancini the Panther theme song did not need lyrics, so Mancini obeyed and what would become his most famous tune would live on as an instrumental. But somehow Tex Arnold, Macauley's music director and master arranger, found a way to sneak the theme-Pink Panther-like?--into the instrumentation of the song "Straight to Baby," another nifty tune from the Peter Gunn TV series.
Arnold and the bassist Jon Burr made a sophisticated team, lending just the right flavor to McCauley's relaxed vocal sound and demeanor. The blend between the musicians and the singer was perfectly elegant. Moon River, Dreamsville, Days of Wine and Roses, and Charade--recognizable hits all--were gracefully rendered, showcasing their beauty. Macauley contextualizedSoldier in the Rain and Natalie by offering quirky, engaging movie summaries of the films for which the songs were composed. It took all my self-control to refrain from opening the Netflix app on my phone and start madly adding to it.
As the show felt a touch too long, Macauley's presentation would have benefited from a couple of judicious cuts. And the singer's somewhat narrow vocal range limited the emotional topography we are invited to traverse over the course of the program. That said, Macauley uses his talents wisely and his ease on stage is incredibly charming. Through his musical choices, winning presence, and well-chosen narrative morsels, Macauley has crafted a delightful production, and as a fan of the master Mancini's music, one I felt richer for having experienced.
Mr. Lucky: The Music of Henry Mancini
Mark Dundas Wood
BistroAwards.com
June 25th, 2015
Film composer Henry Mancini (1924-94) was able to adapt nimbly to whatever professional assignment was at hand. He could write music with a hip, cool sound—for instance, the themes from TV’s Peter Gunn(1958-61) and the big screen’s Pink Panther films. But he could also create striking ballads—most famously, of course, “Moon River” from 1961’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s and the title theme from 1962’s The Days of Wine and Roses (both of which were graced with lyrics by Johnny Mercer).
As singer Jeff Macauley pointed out in “Mr. Lucky,” his recent tribute show at the Metropolitan Room, Mancini’s music was played virtually everywhere during the composer’s heyday—piped into elevators, supermarkets, and waiting rooms in soupy orchestral arrangements. Though as a youngster Macauley was not a fan of the Muzak-ish side of Mancini, he later grew to value the composer’s body of work.
Macauley’s voice will not likely ever be mistaken for Mario Lanza’s or Josh Groban’s; At times it sounded thin and somewhat pinched. But it was also highly expressive and quite pliable. There was something cool and hipster-ish about him on some of this show’s numbers, such as the jagged-rhythmed title theme from 1964’s A Shot in the Dark (Leslie Bricusse) or “Straight to Baby” from Peter Gunn (Jay Livingston, Ray Evans). Into the arrangement for the latter selection, music director and arranger Tex Arnold inserted some quotations from the slinky Pink Panther theme. Macauley punched the song up further with some fun scat singing—or, as he termed it, “a little skitty-scat.”
He also did an admirable job on the romantic and otherwise tender songs—opting, wisely, to go for whispered, murmured intimacy rather than majesty and sweep. He approached “Loss of Love” (Bob Merrill) from 1970’s Sunflower almost as though it were a carefully wrought art song. And he gave “Days of Wine and Roses” a slightly uneasy, almost spooky quality—hinting at the darker side of this theme from a film about addiction.
The expressiveness of Macauley’s singing came not just from the colors and contours of his voice but also from his facial expressions and gestures. He performed the music with his entire body. On the sexy “Slow, Hot Wind” (Norman Gimbel), the steamed-up Macauley removed his glasses and wiped his forehead with a handkerchief. With many singers, such stage business would have come off as clichéd and clownish. But Macauley made it seem as though genuine hotness-and-bother had overtaken him.
The witty spoken narration for the show featured interesting and well-chosen anecdotes about the Mancini career. Macauley’s enthusiasm for the man’s life and music was obvious. There was none of the bland “and-then-he-wrote” patter you encounter in some composer-centric shows. Especially enjoyable was Macauley’s cheeky description of the 1969 Patty Duke film vehicle Me, Natalie.
The music was not presented strictly in the order in which it was written, although songs from the later part of Mancini’s career were clustered near the close of the show. These included selections from the composer’s late-1970s and 1980s collaborations with director Blake Edwards, including the wistfully philosophical but ultimately life-affirming “Crazy World” from 1982’sVictor Victoria (Bricusse), along with lovely lesser-known songs from 10 (1979) and That’s Life(1986).
The only song in the program that might better have been scrapped was the relatively uninspired “Send a Little Love My Way” (Hal David) from Oklahoma Crude (1973). I’m glad, however, that the campy “Baby Elephant Walk” (with loopy lyrics, also by David), from 1962’sHatari was included, silly though it was.
The contributions of Macauley’s two musicians added much to the show’s effectiveness. Arnold on piano and Jon Burr on bass performed with flair, demonstrating that it doesn’t take a large ensemble to rekindle the excitement one remembers from lush, evocative film scores.
It Was Me: The Lyrics of Norman Gimbel
Jerry Osterberg at Cabaret Scenes
November 1, 2013
Take one Bistro Award-winning singer—Jeff Macauley—add a superb Musical Director—Tex Arnold—and a super bass player—Jon Burr, stir them carefully with the genius of Antonio Carlos Jobim, Michel Legrand, Charles Fox and Toots Thielemans, fold in a large dollop of Norman Gimbel’s lyrics, and you have all the ingredients of one delicious-tasting confection.Norman Gimbel may not be a household name, although he’s been writing for over 60 years, But, his songs are certainly well known:—“Bluesette,” “Canadian Sunset,” “I Will Wait for You,” “Killing Me Softly with His Song” and “Girl from Ipanema”—not to mention an Oscar for “It Goes Like It Goes” (from the film Norma Rae) and television themes for Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley andWonder Woman.
Jeff Macauley clearly believes in the oft-repeated adage “It’s about the lyrics!” While many of the songs were composed by just three men—Fox, Jobim and Legrand—the program wasn’t simply a portfolio of their biggest hits; it encompassed a range of emotions. There was no sameness to this show; Macauley interpreted each song as though the words were his.
Given that the most successful of Gimbel’s creations was “Girl from Ipanema,” (music: Jobim), those who are familiar with the lyricist’s work would also cite “Meditation,” “How Insensitive” and “Song of the Sabia.” Macauley delivered “How Insensitive” with a deep-felt, exquisite sadness before segueing into “I Will Follow Him,” performed with the maniacal glee of a stalker as suggested by Arnold’s clever arrangement.
Legrand was represented by “Watch What Happens” and “I Will Wait for You,” sung in a light, breezy style, compared to the intensity of the composer’s approach. No matter the arrangement, the romantic intention of the words came through. Macauley covered Fox’s “Killing Me Softly with His Song” easily, and appropriately swung “Bluesette,” originally known as an instrumental standard composed by the eminent jazz musician Toots Thielemans.
Not especially known for Broadway, Gimbel wrote for two productions, Whoop-Up and The Conquering Hero, both in collaboration with Moose Charlap. The plays flopped in spite of the latter’s star power: Larry Gelbart, Bob Fosse and Tom Poston. It closed after eight performances. Macauley rescued two of its best songs: “Only Rainbows” and “The Conquering Hero.”
With the attributes of a crooner, including expression, feeling, vibrato and an ability to hit the center of a note, Macauley is truly a showman. Costumed in a tuxedo, he eventually removed his tie and scaled down to the informality of an open necked shirt, mirroring the changing mood of the music. He could not have chosen better musicians than Arnold and Burr. Now fully informed about Norman Gimbel, the audience might well be anxious to know who Jeff Macauley’s next unsung hero will be.
It Was Me: The Lyrics of Norman Gimbel
BroadwayWorld.com
Stephen Hanks
December 24, 2012
As the point person for the 2012 BroadwayWorld.com New York Cabaret Awards, I was sent in early November the entire list of nominations in the 20 Award categories so they could be vetted for accuracy (to make sure the nominations were in the right category, whether they were actually 2012 shows, etc.). Scanning the list of Male Vocalist nominees I noticed the name Jeff Macauley, who in August staged the first of what would become seven tribute shows to a lyricist named Norman Gimbel. Talk about double obscurity. Although there was something about Gimbel's name that rang a bell and I soon remembered that he was the man who wrote the lyrics (with music by Charles Fox) to Roberta Flack's 1973 Grammy Award-winning "Killing Me Softly With His Song," which folk singer Lori Lieberman has long claimed was inspired by a poem she wrote about Don McLean (one of my musical heroes). But I still didn't know anything about this guy Macauley and why he was an Award nominee.
Now I know. This past Saturday night, I was finally able to catch Macauley's show, It Was Me: The Lyrics of Norman Gimbel, and found it to be one of the most charming cabaret shows--whether from a man or woman--that I saw this year. Macauley doesn't possess a particularly powerful voice or a wide vocal range, but he has a smooth, endearing baritone that can occasionally hit tough tenor notes, and for this show he displayed a knack for offering interesting and humorous biographical anecdotes as if he were a smooth jazz FM deejay. Dapper andMad Men-esque in a tight black suit and black bow tie, Macauley presented his show as if he was a classic "lounge lizard," but in the best sense of that term.
Norman Gimbel was, as Macauley called him, "a musical Zelig," whose lyrics could range from quirky to romantic, and who could adapt to many musical styles from an Antonio Carlos Jobim bossa nova (Gimbel wrote the English lyrics to Jobim's "The Girl from Ipanema" and to Pable Beltran Ruiz's "Sway") to a song from a Hollywood film drama (the 1980 Oscar-winning "It Goes Like It Goes" from Norma Rae), to a 1970s pop tune (the Jim Croce hit "I Got a Name"), to a Charles Fox TV theme song ("Wonder Woman"). With superb arrangements from his Musical Director/Pianist Tex Arnold and the jazzy bass of Jon Burr, Macauley proved he was not only up to singing a wide range of songs styles, but in articulating the tunes in a way that conveyed the strength of Gimbel's lyrics. He opened with the swinging "Let Go," and from there never held back, following up on a chilly December night with a warm and cuddly medley of Jobim's "Meditation" with Marcos Valle's "Summer Sumba." Later, Macauley offered "Ipanema" and an adorable ballad-like version of the 1963 pop hit "I Will Follow Him" from a gay man's point of view, and was wonderfully whispering and wistful on Gimbel's lyrics and Michael Legrand's melodies on a medley of "I Will Wait for You" and "Watch Watch Happens." from the 1964 French musical film The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.
Throughout the set, Macauley engagingly offered enlightening stories about Gimbel's life and personality (he really liked the ladies) and humorous anecdotes about musicals and films the lyricist worked on (including the very short-lived 1961 Broadway show The Conquering Hero and the 1978 black comedy film Where's Poppa). Norman Gimbel is still around and now a robust 85, Macauley revealed before singing his encore, a deliciously lush rendition of "Live for Life" (music by Francis Lai) from the 1966 French film A Man and A Woman. It was the ideal lyric to end another year and a perfectly sublime cabaret show:
Come with me my love and seize the day and live it,
Live it fully live it fast.
Never thinking once about tomorrow,
Till tomorrow's been and gone and past.
We'll pour the wine and fill the cup of joy and drink it,
Drink as if it were the last.
Live, just live for life.
Kevin Scott Hall at BistroAwards.com
Jeff Macauley has come up with a winning show, an overdue cabaret tribute to Norman Gimbel. Gimbel—a lyricist perhaps best known for his pop collaborations with Charles Fox during the '70s (including Jim Croce's "I Got a Name," the Oscar-nominated "Ready to Take a Chance Again" fromFoul Play, and the massive, chart-topping Grammy-winning Song of the Year for Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly With His Song")—did so much more. He wrote English lyrics for such big hits of the '50s and '60s as Jobim's "Meditation" and "The Girl from Ipanema"; "I Will Wait for You" and "Watch What Happens" (Michel Legrand) from The Umbrellas of Cherbourg; "Sway" (Pablo Beltrán Ruiz); the Oscar-winning "It Goes Like it Goes" (David Shire) from Norma Rae; and themes to several popular television shows, including Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Wonder Woman, and The Paper Chase (Emmy-nominated). In all, his songs appear in over 90 films and he even had two Broadway shows early in his career (Whoop-Up and The Conquering Hero).
I mention all of this because as Macauley coolly breezed through a small portion of the varied catalogue, the audience murmured and aahed several times upon joyfully discovering that, indeed, another song they knew had lyrics by Gimbel. As Macauley puts it in his understated way, "He was a busy guy."
Dressed in a retro tux and horn-rimmed glasses, and with a pleasingly crooning voice, Macauley displays a bit of the Rat Pack in himself. He has a sly comic touch that he uses in most of the songs, and in all of his patter, which includes amusing anecdotes about Gimbel's womanizing ways, and giving us the absurd plotline to the film Where's Poppa? and speculating how difficult it must have been for Gimbel to come up with lyrics to the title song.
Macauley is relaxed and game for this undertaking. If anything, his vocal delivery has a little too much precision for the sensual nature of jazz or bossa nova pieces, such as the aforementioned "Meditation" and "Sway," and "Summer Samba (So Nice)" (Marcos Valle). Interestingly, however, he opens up and finds new and unexpected phrasing with pop numbers like "Killing Me Softly" and "It Goes Like It Goes." His best number is "The Boy from Ipanema." The song has been done thousands of times by cabaret artists over the years, but Macauley's longing gaze at the passing boy and the eye-rolling reactions are a comic delight that gives the old chestnut new life yet again.
Macauley gives the Peggy March hit "I Will Follow Him" (Franck Pourcel and Paul Mauriat) an earnest reading, and the beauty of the Legrand songs mentioned above seems especially suited to Macauley's soothing voice. The campiest fun comes with a medley of "Girl" and "Wonder Woman" (both Charles Fox); the first was immortalized by Davy Jones, when he sang it for Marcia on The Brady Bunch, the second was from the Lynda Carter series, a favorite among gay boys who came of age in the late '70s.
At one point, Macauley brands Gimbel "the Zelig of lyricists" because of his adaptability, and the show demonstrates that truth. Thus, musical director and arranger Tex Arnold must be given plaudits for navigating his way around these musical genres so effortlessly. Jon Burr accompanies on upright bass.
One could ask Macauley to tap into some deeper emotions once in a while, rather than the knowing wink he gives the songs, but the strength of the show lies in its cumulative effect: he's a damned good entertainer and storyteller, and he's presenting a wide-ranging palette of songs from, it turns out, one of our greatest and often underappreciated lyricists. What's not to like?
Andrew Martin at Niteelifeexchange.com
Singer Jeff Macauley has come a long way since first bursting onto the scene in the mid-90s. Long gone is the blond boy-child fresh out of the O'Neill Fellowship singing overindulgent tributes to Dinah Shore with a machine-gun vibrato, whether or not he garnered a Bistro Award in the process. Now a truly distinguished master of the medium, Macauley has brought It Was Me, his tribute to the lyrics of the legendary Norman Gimbel, to Don't Tell Mama, and it isn't merely a joy to behold but completely masterful. Aided by the ever-excellent Tex Arnold at the keys and the equally-stellar John Burr on bass, not to mention the technical direction of Jason Ellis, the evening (which has one more night to go on Sunday the 28th at 7pm at Don't Tell Mama) is a bonafide winner on every possible count.
Macauley deftly displays Gimbel's lyrics as paired with the music of such composers as Antonio Carlos Jobim, Toots Thielemanns, David Shire, Moose Charlap, Charles Fox, Gilbert Becaud and Michael Legrand, and these are never in more crystal-clear abundance as with "Meditation" (entitled "Meditacao" in the original Portuguese), "It Goes Like It Goes," both "Killing Me Softly With His Song" and "I Got a Name," "I Will Follow Him" (with music by Franck Pourcel and Paul Mariat) besides the jazz classic "Bluesette." Medleys are also here but never presented over-abundantly, as with "The Conquering Hero," "Must Be Given to You" and "Only Rainbows," or "The Boy from Ipanema" and "How Insensitive." And coupling of both "I Will Wait for You" and "Watch What Happens," as well as the never-ending fun of "Girl" and "Wonder Woman," make this a beautifully-rounded evening. One also can't forget the theme song to the classic cult film "Where's Poppa?" with the music of Jack Elliott. Finally, there's the show's title number and the encore "Live For Life" (with music by Francis Lai), which leaves the audience emerging from the showroom fully convinced that they've just witnessed what could be an extremely important re-immersion into cabaret on Macauley's part.
It Was Me, and Jeff Macauley, may be packing up shop this time around on Saturday the 28th, but it's a very safe bet that they'll be back before long. This is just too good a show to let sit by the wayside without an encore.
Stu Hamstra at CabaretHotlineOnline.com
Norman Gimbel? Not exactly a household word - but, as Jeff revealed, Norman Gimbel won an Oscar for "It Goes Like It Goes" from Norma Rae and is responsible for some of the most recognizable and best-loved lyrics of the last half-century.
The thing I love about these "anthology" type shows is the brand new information you learn about something you thought you knew all about. For one, I did not realize that Mr. Gimbel wrote the lyrics to "Killing Me Softly With His Song". I actually heard Roberta Flack sing this at a long ago Newport Jazz Festival which I happened upon while driving through Providence RI many, many years ago - might have been in 1975 when she released her #1 hit recording of the song. I had always simply assumed she had written it! And Mr. Gimbel also wrote the lyrics for the themes to the TV shows Wonder Woman, Laverne & Shirley and Happy Days. His variety of styles was astounding.
As astounding was the ease with which Jeff Macaulay developed, formed and presented the songs teamed with musical director Tex Arnold (who's arrangements were impeccable and memorable, as usual).
This is one of those "complete package" shows - great songs, great arrangements, great vocals, great writing, great presentation - and with 3 shows scheduled for October, I want to return and experience it again.
Lynn DiMenna at Cabaret Scenes
Norman Gimbel, you ask, who is Norman Gimbel? Isn’t he the guy who founded that old department store? Nooooo, he’s a lyricist and a VERY good one and Bistro Award-winning performer Jeff Macauley has paid tribute to the repertoire of the prolific writer in a show called It Was Me: The Lyrics of Norman Gimbel.Unless you’d done the extensive research that Macauley has, you might never imagine that Gimbel, who won an Oscar for “It Goes Like It Goes” (David Shire) from the movie Norma Raeand Grammys for “The Girl from Ipanema” (Antonio Carlos Jobim) and “Killing Me Softly with His Song” (Charles Fox) might also have collaborated with composer Michel Legrand writing the English lyrics for beloved pop standards like "Watch What Happens," "I Will Wait for You," as well as for the theme songs to over seventy films and TV series including Wonder Woman, Laverne & Shirley and Happy Days.
With exceptional arrangements by the masterful Tex Arnold and “cool cat” Jon Burr on bass, Macauley surprised his audience with one Gimbel gem after another. His upbeat opener, “Let Go,” (his translation of the original Baden Powell lyrics), set the perfect tone for a song list that also included everything from Peggy March’s hit “I Will Follow Him” (Frank Pourcel and Paul Mauriat), to the theme song from the movie A Man and a Woman, (Francis Lai; English lyrics by Gimbel and Jerry Keller.)
There’s a pleasant, husky, conversational quality in Macauley’s singing that, without a lot of frills and flourishes, allows you to focus on the words, their eloquence and meaning. Along with his relaxed, quiet confidence, it was so effective in the title song, that one delighted audience member—the marvelous Marilyn Maye—was overheard uttering her definitive stamp of approval: “That’s darling!”
David Hurst
New York Arts Review
December 29, 2017
No one likes being late to a party, but that’s how I felt recently watching the supremely entertaining Jeff Macauley holding court at Pangea in the smartest show in town, Hollywood Party – Movie Songs: 1928-1936. As he unfurled one delicious, forgotten gem after another I wondered how Macauley’s insouciant blend of wit, charm and sophistication could have eluded me for so long. After all, he’d won a Bistro Award in 1998 for MWAH! The Dinah Shore Show (which he encored in 2016 to critical raves) and has been MAC nominated the last two years for Best Male Vocalist. Where had I been? Why had no one told me? Ah well, better late than never! And now that I’m at the party, wild horses couldn’t drag me away.
It only takes glancing at the titles of Macauley’s shows to see why he’s the toast of the town and a tastemaker in style: It Was Me: The Lyrics of Norman Gimbel, Mr. Lucky: The Songs of Henry Mancini and Le Grand Tour: The Music of Michel Legrand. A performer with panache and savvy, Macauley’s Hollywood Party is actually a revival of a show he created more than 20 years ago. But it’s a testament to Macauley’s presentation and his material’s timelessness that Hollywood Party remains a breath of fresh air and a thrill to experience.
Boasting intuitive arrangements and the sensitive playing of the superb Tex Arnold, in Hollywood Party Macauley steps back in time to the Golden Age of film music with a collection of rarities, obscure oddities and – most delightfully – completely unknown songs. When was the last time you watched a cabaret show and had never heard the vast majority of songs being performed? And how exciting is that? As our emcee and bon vivant narrator, Macauley relishes in turning the pages of time, in this case from 1928 to 1936. Boasting writers as disparate as Rodgers & Hart, Dorothy Parker and Yip Harburg, you’ll also experience Herman Hupfeld, Clifford Grey & Victor Schertzinger and George Marion & Richard Whiting. The lyrics Macauley has chosen are unerringly smart, funny and frivolous – all qualities Macauley himself embodies as he takes us into his confidence.
Cutting a cool figure in his tuxedo, Macauley’s sex appeal is as magnetic as it is dangerous. His light, lyric baritone often roams into tenor territory but he never pushes, caressing the notes with an even fineness that’s a welcome relief from the glut of belters who equate volume with emotion. Younger singers would do well to emulate Macauley’s sumptuous phrasing and consummate breath-control. It’s refreshing to watch a show where the performer understands the lyric is paramount, and to take breaths where dictated by the text. No breaking up phrases or taking a gigantic breath before the last word in a sentence for Macauley. It’s this attention to presentation, along with his eclectic taste in repertoire, that Macauley reminds me of the terrific Chicago-based performer Justin Hayford. They both have a gentle approach to their material but there’s always a sly wink in the execution. And that wink is everything.
Whether he’s advising us to “Never Swat A Fly” (from Just Imagine, 1930 – Fox: by B.G. De Sylva, Lew Brown and Ray Henderson) or to “Bend Down Sister” (from Palmy Days, 1931 – United Artists: by Ballard MacDonald/Dave Silverstein and Con Conrad), Macauley is genuinely having fun and his rapt audience is along for the ride. Selfishly, I can’t wait to see what he does next!
Le Grand Tour: The Music of Michel Legrand
Marilyn Lester
Cabaret Scenes
March 20, 2017
Jeff Macauley cuts a fine figure on stage. Slim and fit in a natty tuxedo, he looks the picture of Gallic elegance. In Le Grand Tour: The Music of Michel Legrand, he delivers a polished show with both classic and lesser-known numbers, drawn from an extraordinary body of work. Legrand was, if nothing else, prolific, having written for about 250 films, including The Umbrellas of Cherbourg,The Young Girls of Rochefort, and Yentl. This show is the third in Macauley’s Easy-Listening Trilogy--tributes to the great movie songwriters of the 1960s through the ’80s.
The Young Girls of Rochefort was most amply represented among the many films in the Legrand repertoire, with the accordianiste-like “We Travel ‘Round,” plus “Sailors in Waterfront Saloons” and “To Love” (all lyrics by Julian More and Earl Brown). Macauley is enthusiastic about his subject, conveying an information-packed narrative that at moments teeters to the edge of “too long,” but quickly catches itself and pulls back into the desired object of the evening: song. It’s the words that Macauley does best. His voice is pleasant, and is wisely used to tell the story—without gimmicks. He’s more in the groove with upbeat numbers, such as the quirky “Sweet Gingerbread Man” (lyrics: Alan & Marilyn Bergman) than with ballads. With those slower numbers, such as “I Will Wait for You”/”Watch What Happens” (both with lyrics by Norman Gimbel), Macauley focuses on the lyrics, with incisive interpretation of the material as well as an understanding of technique.
He is also not without a certain wit (we reckon you’ve already noticed the pun in the title of the show). A segment grouping summer songs—“Once Upon a Summertime” (lyrics: Johnny Mercer), “Summer Me, Winter Me” and “The Summer Knows” (the Bergmans)—saw the singer remove his tuxedo jacket to metaphorically cope with the heat. Finally, a lovely “What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?” (the Bergmans) ended this French confection, with an encore of “You Must Believe in Spring” (the Bergmans). Arrangements by Musical Director/pianist Tex Arnold were creatively magnifique. Jon Burr, a virtuoso of the upright bass, was especially inspirational in applying beautiful bowing technique throughout the show.
MWAH!: The Dinah Shore Show
Victoria Ordin
BroadwayWorld.com
February 20, 2016
Jeff Macauley loves Dinah Shore. That's usually the case when a cabaret performer devotes an entire show to a star's body of work. But there's affection and admiration, and then there's all-encompassing passion and adoration that informs the performer's every note, lyric, and anecdote, and thereby imparts that love to us (whether or not we were previously fans). By that standard, MWAH! The Dinah Shore Show, Macauley's 1998 Backstage Bistro Award Winner for "Outstanding Theme Show" (revived last Saturday night as part of Stephen Hanks' monthly New York Cabaret's Greatest Hits series at the Metropolitan Room) is one of the most successful shows of its kind I've seen.
Full disclosure: As the daughter of a relatively recently deceased WWII veteran who worshiped Dinah, I had an anti-Dinah bias going in. At 44, I'm too young to have seen the television shows (which after Macauley's tribute I'm convinced I would have liked), and I wasn't a fan of her unusual and highly stylized voice in spite of her perfect pitch and artful phrasing. But Macauley combines a staggering amount of biographical information with specific context for each song, driving home the sheer magnitude of Dinah's stardom, chutzpah, versatility, and passion for a wide range of musical genres. Unlike some shows, which feel thrown together, MWAH! is exceptionally well conceived.
After a sweetly sung "Shoo Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy" (Sammy Gallop/Guy Wood), Macauley delivers a breathless catalogue of Dinah's recording, radio, film and TV accomplishments that sets the pace and tone for the hilarity that follows. Dubbed the "Nashville Nightingale," Dinah Shore (nee Frances) had 92 charted hits on Joel Whitburn's "Pop Hits 1890-1954," which predated the Billboard Charts. The daughter of Jewish immigrants from Russia, Dinah overcame childhood polio and went on to win eight Emmys and release nine albums after earning a degree in sociology at Vanderbilt University. The biggest musical star of the 1940s (partly as a result of her devotion to the troops), Dinah outsold all other artists combined at Columbia Records in that decade.
As if all this were not enough, Dinah was what Macauley calls "sex-positive," a thoroughly modern woman long before Women's Lib. "Yes, My Darling Daughter" (Jack Lawrence) reached #10 on the pre-Billboard charts. Macauley convincingly takes on the persona of the mother who wants to encourage her young daughter to behave properly with men, but gives her tacit permission, as Macauley puts it, "to go for it."
But Dinah was not an instant success. Upon her move to New York, she failed to get into the big bands (likeTommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller) and sang for free on radio. Macauley traces the intimate style for which Dinah became famous to her peculiar comfort with "the red light," which did not intimidate the young singer in the least. Instead of taking it as a symbol of a vast audience, she pretended to be singing to one person only. Appearing with Frank Sinatra in the late 1930s, Dinah's days of singing for free ended with "Yes, My Darling Daughter," her first gold record.
Macauley sings "(As Long As You're Not In Love With Anyone Else) Why Don't You Fall In Love With Me?" (Al Lewis/Mabel Wayne" and "Dearly Beloved" (Johnny Mercer/Jerome Kern), #3 and #10 respectively, with conviction, but his voice sounds slightly thin here (and elsewhere) and not as smooth as one would like. He's on stronger ground with "Blues in the Night" (Johnny Mercer/Harold Arlen), which impressed itself on the gay teen in Swarthmore, PA who listened to Dinah with his mother. If Dinah--who managed to marry George Montgomery though he was then with Hedy Lamarr, arguably the world's most beautiful woman alive (and physicist to boot!)--couldn't find lasting love, he thought to himself, "What chance do I have?" The story of Dinah's and George's courtship and marriage is one of the show's most vivid.
"He Wears a Pair of Silver Wings" (Eric Mashwitz/Michael Carr" precedes the show's vocally strongest trio of songs: "Skylark" (Johnny Mercer/Hoagy Carmichael), "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To" (Cole Porter), and "I'll Walk Alone" (Sammy Caan/Jule Styne). The talented musical director Daryl Kojak plays these numbers with particular feeling, anticipating the breathtaking piano solo in the melancholy Joan Baez song later in the show, "Diamonds and Rust," which sounds like a babbling brook.
The next part of the show features songs from Dinah's film career, which in her (unaccountable) view, never took off because she was insufficiently photogenic. The uptempo "Mad About Him, Sad Without Him, How Can I Be Glad Without Him Blues" (Larry Markes/Dick Charles) lightens the mood before "Tess' Torch Song" (Ted Koehler/Harold Arlen). Macauley artfully joins "I Love You For Sentimental Reasons" (Deek Watson/Pat Best) to another #2 hit, "I Wish I Didn't Love You So" (Frank Loesser), ending the latter with lines from the former.
Macauley is genuinely standup-comic funny throughout, but the humor hits a high point when he asks the audience, "So what's the difference between this show in 1997 and today?" "EBAY!" he proclaims, before launching into an uproarious show-and-tell, complete with Dinah paraphernalia accumulated over the years, including potholders, jackets, belt buckles, paper dolls, coloring books, cookbooks, and album jackets. The performer's Dinah worship might be borderline troubling if not for the innocent love the performer feels for the funny, beautiful, and talented lady who started "the affair [with Burt Reynolds] that broke all the rules." Macauley's bits about his mother, who gossiped about the star as if they were personal friends, are truly hilarious. I was not the only one surprised at Dinah's daring in her later years; she invited David Bowie and Iggy Pop on her show, revealing an admirable ability to change with the times.
Fittingly, "Buttons and Bows" (Jay Livingston/Ray Evans)--which remained at #1 for 10 weeks-is the show's musical highlight. Macauley does a nice job with the theme song of her long-time TV sponsor, "See The USA In Your Chevrolet" (Leon Carr/Leo Corday), well introduced by a story about his family's short-lived station wagon. Macauley wraps with "When I Grow Too Old To Dream" (Oscar Hammerstein II/Sigmund Romberg), not a hit for Dinah, but a strong finish to a highly entertaining show about the singer whose voice the eight-year-old son of Dinah Shore Chevy Show director, Bob Banner, aptly described as "warm in the middle and soft around the edges."
Mr. Lucky: The Music of Henry Mancini
Remy Block
BroadwayWorld.com
July 2, 2015
JEFF MACAULEY's Charming, Sophisticated Tribute to the Music of Henry Mancini Hits All the Right Notes at the Metropolitan Room
In Mr. Lucky, Jeff Macauley's urbane cabaret show featuring the songs of Henry Mancini, (which recently finished a three-show run at the Metropolitan Room) you learn that the famed composer came by his luck and success the old-fashioned way: single-minded purpose fueled by hard work and determination. Yet, Macauley, a former Bistro Award winner, makes telling Mancini's story look so easy. Debonair in his impeccable suit and fashionable specs, the singer uses a light touch to deliver songs he was determined to bring out of the background and into the spotlight.
Through a satisfying mixture of well-known songs and more obscure tunes, Macauley weaves tidbits of personal history, movie reviews, and Mancini trivia together for a pithy between songs narrative. He sought out lyrics to favorite movie and TV themes, such as Bye, Bye, popularly known as the Peter Gunn Theme, andBaby Elephant Walk from the 1962 movie Hatari. Macauley also searched for lyrics to the beloved signature tune from the Pink Panther movies. He didn't find any. However, he did discover the reason for the lack of words: Johnny Mercer, who provided lyrics for the entire soundtrack, told Mancini the Panther theme song did not need lyrics, so Mancini obeyed and what would become his most famous tune would live on as an instrumental. But somehow Tex Arnold, Macauley's music director and master arranger, found a way to sneak the theme-Pink Panther-like?--into the instrumentation of the song "Straight to Baby," another nifty tune from the Peter Gunn TV series.
Arnold and the bassist Jon Burr made a sophisticated team, lending just the right flavor to McCauley's relaxed vocal sound and demeanor. The blend between the musicians and the singer was perfectly elegant. Moon River, Dreamsville, Days of Wine and Roses, and Charade--recognizable hits all--were gracefully rendered, showcasing their beauty. Macauley contextualizedSoldier in the Rain and Natalie by offering quirky, engaging movie summaries of the films for which the songs were composed. It took all my self-control to refrain from opening the Netflix app on my phone and start madly adding to it.
As the show felt a touch too long, Macauley's presentation would have benefited from a couple of judicious cuts. And the singer's somewhat narrow vocal range limited the emotional topography we are invited to traverse over the course of the program. That said, Macauley uses his talents wisely and his ease on stage is incredibly charming. Through his musical choices, winning presence, and well-chosen narrative morsels, Macauley has crafted a delightful production, and as a fan of the master Mancini's music, one I felt richer for having experienced.
Mr. Lucky: The Music of Henry Mancini
Mark Dundas Wood
BistroAwards.com
June 25th, 2015
Film composer Henry Mancini (1924-94) was able to adapt nimbly to whatever professional assignment was at hand. He could write music with a hip, cool sound—for instance, the themes from TV’s Peter Gunn(1958-61) and the big screen’s Pink Panther films. But he could also create striking ballads—most famously, of course, “Moon River” from 1961’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s and the title theme from 1962’s The Days of Wine and Roses (both of which were graced with lyrics by Johnny Mercer).
As singer Jeff Macauley pointed out in “Mr. Lucky,” his recent tribute show at the Metropolitan Room, Mancini’s music was played virtually everywhere during the composer’s heyday—piped into elevators, supermarkets, and waiting rooms in soupy orchestral arrangements. Though as a youngster Macauley was not a fan of the Muzak-ish side of Mancini, he later grew to value the composer’s body of work.
Macauley’s voice will not likely ever be mistaken for Mario Lanza’s or Josh Groban’s; At times it sounded thin and somewhat pinched. But it was also highly expressive and quite pliable. There was something cool and hipster-ish about him on some of this show’s numbers, such as the jagged-rhythmed title theme from 1964’s A Shot in the Dark (Leslie Bricusse) or “Straight to Baby” from Peter Gunn (Jay Livingston, Ray Evans). Into the arrangement for the latter selection, music director and arranger Tex Arnold inserted some quotations from the slinky Pink Panther theme. Macauley punched the song up further with some fun scat singing—or, as he termed it, “a little skitty-scat.”
He also did an admirable job on the romantic and otherwise tender songs—opting, wisely, to go for whispered, murmured intimacy rather than majesty and sweep. He approached “Loss of Love” (Bob Merrill) from 1970’s Sunflower almost as though it were a carefully wrought art song. And he gave “Days of Wine and Roses” a slightly uneasy, almost spooky quality—hinting at the darker side of this theme from a film about addiction.
The expressiveness of Macauley’s singing came not just from the colors and contours of his voice but also from his facial expressions and gestures. He performed the music with his entire body. On the sexy “Slow, Hot Wind” (Norman Gimbel), the steamed-up Macauley removed his glasses and wiped his forehead with a handkerchief. With many singers, such stage business would have come off as clichéd and clownish. But Macauley made it seem as though genuine hotness-and-bother had overtaken him.
The witty spoken narration for the show featured interesting and well-chosen anecdotes about the Mancini career. Macauley’s enthusiasm for the man’s life and music was obvious. There was none of the bland “and-then-he-wrote” patter you encounter in some composer-centric shows. Especially enjoyable was Macauley’s cheeky description of the 1969 Patty Duke film vehicle Me, Natalie.
The music was not presented strictly in the order in which it was written, although songs from the later part of Mancini’s career were clustered near the close of the show. These included selections from the composer’s late-1970s and 1980s collaborations with director Blake Edwards, including the wistfully philosophical but ultimately life-affirming “Crazy World” from 1982’sVictor Victoria (Bricusse), along with lovely lesser-known songs from 10 (1979) and That’s Life(1986).
The only song in the program that might better have been scrapped was the relatively uninspired “Send a Little Love My Way” (Hal David) from Oklahoma Crude (1973). I’m glad, however, that the campy “Baby Elephant Walk” (with loopy lyrics, also by David), from 1962’sHatari was included, silly though it was.
The contributions of Macauley’s two musicians added much to the show’s effectiveness. Arnold on piano and Jon Burr on bass performed with flair, demonstrating that it doesn’t take a large ensemble to rekindle the excitement one remembers from lush, evocative film scores.
It Was Me: The Lyrics of Norman Gimbel
Jerry Osterberg at Cabaret Scenes
November 1, 2013
Take one Bistro Award-winning singer—Jeff Macauley—add a superb Musical Director—Tex Arnold—and a super bass player—Jon Burr, stir them carefully with the genius of Antonio Carlos Jobim, Michel Legrand, Charles Fox and Toots Thielemans, fold in a large dollop of Norman Gimbel’s lyrics, and you have all the ingredients of one delicious-tasting confection.Norman Gimbel may not be a household name, although he’s been writing for over 60 years, But, his songs are certainly well known:—“Bluesette,” “Canadian Sunset,” “I Will Wait for You,” “Killing Me Softly with His Song” and “Girl from Ipanema”—not to mention an Oscar for “It Goes Like It Goes” (from the film Norma Rae) and television themes for Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley andWonder Woman.
Jeff Macauley clearly believes in the oft-repeated adage “It’s about the lyrics!” While many of the songs were composed by just three men—Fox, Jobim and Legrand—the program wasn’t simply a portfolio of their biggest hits; it encompassed a range of emotions. There was no sameness to this show; Macauley interpreted each song as though the words were his.
Given that the most successful of Gimbel’s creations was “Girl from Ipanema,” (music: Jobim), those who are familiar with the lyricist’s work would also cite “Meditation,” “How Insensitive” and “Song of the Sabia.” Macauley delivered “How Insensitive” with a deep-felt, exquisite sadness before segueing into “I Will Follow Him,” performed with the maniacal glee of a stalker as suggested by Arnold’s clever arrangement.
Legrand was represented by “Watch What Happens” and “I Will Wait for You,” sung in a light, breezy style, compared to the intensity of the composer’s approach. No matter the arrangement, the romantic intention of the words came through. Macauley covered Fox’s “Killing Me Softly with His Song” easily, and appropriately swung “Bluesette,” originally known as an instrumental standard composed by the eminent jazz musician Toots Thielemans.
Not especially known for Broadway, Gimbel wrote for two productions, Whoop-Up and The Conquering Hero, both in collaboration with Moose Charlap. The plays flopped in spite of the latter’s star power: Larry Gelbart, Bob Fosse and Tom Poston. It closed after eight performances. Macauley rescued two of its best songs: “Only Rainbows” and “The Conquering Hero.”
With the attributes of a crooner, including expression, feeling, vibrato and an ability to hit the center of a note, Macauley is truly a showman. Costumed in a tuxedo, he eventually removed his tie and scaled down to the informality of an open necked shirt, mirroring the changing mood of the music. He could not have chosen better musicians than Arnold and Burr. Now fully informed about Norman Gimbel, the audience might well be anxious to know who Jeff Macauley’s next unsung hero will be.
It Was Me: The Lyrics of Norman Gimbel
BroadwayWorld.com
Stephen Hanks
December 24, 2012
As the point person for the 2012 BroadwayWorld.com New York Cabaret Awards, I was sent in early November the entire list of nominations in the 20 Award categories so they could be vetted for accuracy (to make sure the nominations were in the right category, whether they were actually 2012 shows, etc.). Scanning the list of Male Vocalist nominees I noticed the name Jeff Macauley, who in August staged the first of what would become seven tribute shows to a lyricist named Norman Gimbel. Talk about double obscurity. Although there was something about Gimbel's name that rang a bell and I soon remembered that he was the man who wrote the lyrics (with music by Charles Fox) to Roberta Flack's 1973 Grammy Award-winning "Killing Me Softly With His Song," which folk singer Lori Lieberman has long claimed was inspired by a poem she wrote about Don McLean (one of my musical heroes). But I still didn't know anything about this guy Macauley and why he was an Award nominee.
Now I know. This past Saturday night, I was finally able to catch Macauley's show, It Was Me: The Lyrics of Norman Gimbel, and found it to be one of the most charming cabaret shows--whether from a man or woman--that I saw this year. Macauley doesn't possess a particularly powerful voice or a wide vocal range, but he has a smooth, endearing baritone that can occasionally hit tough tenor notes, and for this show he displayed a knack for offering interesting and humorous biographical anecdotes as if he were a smooth jazz FM deejay. Dapper andMad Men-esque in a tight black suit and black bow tie, Macauley presented his show as if he was a classic "lounge lizard," but in the best sense of that term.
Norman Gimbel was, as Macauley called him, "a musical Zelig," whose lyrics could range from quirky to romantic, and who could adapt to many musical styles from an Antonio Carlos Jobim bossa nova (Gimbel wrote the English lyrics to Jobim's "The Girl from Ipanema" and to Pable Beltran Ruiz's "Sway") to a song from a Hollywood film drama (the 1980 Oscar-winning "It Goes Like It Goes" from Norma Rae), to a 1970s pop tune (the Jim Croce hit "I Got a Name"), to a Charles Fox TV theme song ("Wonder Woman"). With superb arrangements from his Musical Director/Pianist Tex Arnold and the jazzy bass of Jon Burr, Macauley proved he was not only up to singing a wide range of songs styles, but in articulating the tunes in a way that conveyed the strength of Gimbel's lyrics. He opened with the swinging "Let Go," and from there never held back, following up on a chilly December night with a warm and cuddly medley of Jobim's "Meditation" with Marcos Valle's "Summer Sumba." Later, Macauley offered "Ipanema" and an adorable ballad-like version of the 1963 pop hit "I Will Follow Him" from a gay man's point of view, and was wonderfully whispering and wistful on Gimbel's lyrics and Michael Legrand's melodies on a medley of "I Will Wait for You" and "Watch Watch Happens." from the 1964 French musical film The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.
Throughout the set, Macauley engagingly offered enlightening stories about Gimbel's life and personality (he really liked the ladies) and humorous anecdotes about musicals and films the lyricist worked on (including the very short-lived 1961 Broadway show The Conquering Hero and the 1978 black comedy film Where's Poppa). Norman Gimbel is still around and now a robust 85, Macauley revealed before singing his encore, a deliciously lush rendition of "Live for Life" (music by Francis Lai) from the 1966 French film A Man and A Woman. It was the ideal lyric to end another year and a perfectly sublime cabaret show:
Come with me my love and seize the day and live it,
Live it fully live it fast.
Never thinking once about tomorrow,
Till tomorrow's been and gone and past.
We'll pour the wine and fill the cup of joy and drink it,
Drink as if it were the last.
Live, just live for life.
Kevin Scott Hall at BistroAwards.com
Jeff Macauley has come up with a winning show, an overdue cabaret tribute to Norman Gimbel. Gimbel—a lyricist perhaps best known for his pop collaborations with Charles Fox during the '70s (including Jim Croce's "I Got a Name," the Oscar-nominated "Ready to Take a Chance Again" fromFoul Play, and the massive, chart-topping Grammy-winning Song of the Year for Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly With His Song")—did so much more. He wrote English lyrics for such big hits of the '50s and '60s as Jobim's "Meditation" and "The Girl from Ipanema"; "I Will Wait for You" and "Watch What Happens" (Michel Legrand) from The Umbrellas of Cherbourg; "Sway" (Pablo Beltrán Ruiz); the Oscar-winning "It Goes Like it Goes" (David Shire) from Norma Rae; and themes to several popular television shows, including Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Wonder Woman, and The Paper Chase (Emmy-nominated). In all, his songs appear in over 90 films and he even had two Broadway shows early in his career (Whoop-Up and The Conquering Hero).
I mention all of this because as Macauley coolly breezed through a small portion of the varied catalogue, the audience murmured and aahed several times upon joyfully discovering that, indeed, another song they knew had lyrics by Gimbel. As Macauley puts it in his understated way, "He was a busy guy."
Dressed in a retro tux and horn-rimmed glasses, and with a pleasingly crooning voice, Macauley displays a bit of the Rat Pack in himself. He has a sly comic touch that he uses in most of the songs, and in all of his patter, which includes amusing anecdotes about Gimbel's womanizing ways, and giving us the absurd plotline to the film Where's Poppa? and speculating how difficult it must have been for Gimbel to come up with lyrics to the title song.
Macauley is relaxed and game for this undertaking. If anything, his vocal delivery has a little too much precision for the sensual nature of jazz or bossa nova pieces, such as the aforementioned "Meditation" and "Sway," and "Summer Samba (So Nice)" (Marcos Valle). Interestingly, however, he opens up and finds new and unexpected phrasing with pop numbers like "Killing Me Softly" and "It Goes Like It Goes." His best number is "The Boy from Ipanema." The song has been done thousands of times by cabaret artists over the years, but Macauley's longing gaze at the passing boy and the eye-rolling reactions are a comic delight that gives the old chestnut new life yet again.
Macauley gives the Peggy March hit "I Will Follow Him" (Franck Pourcel and Paul Mauriat) an earnest reading, and the beauty of the Legrand songs mentioned above seems especially suited to Macauley's soothing voice. The campiest fun comes with a medley of "Girl" and "Wonder Woman" (both Charles Fox); the first was immortalized by Davy Jones, when he sang it for Marcia on The Brady Bunch, the second was from the Lynda Carter series, a favorite among gay boys who came of age in the late '70s.
At one point, Macauley brands Gimbel "the Zelig of lyricists" because of his adaptability, and the show demonstrates that truth. Thus, musical director and arranger Tex Arnold must be given plaudits for navigating his way around these musical genres so effortlessly. Jon Burr accompanies on upright bass.
One could ask Macauley to tap into some deeper emotions once in a while, rather than the knowing wink he gives the songs, but the strength of the show lies in its cumulative effect: he's a damned good entertainer and storyteller, and he's presenting a wide-ranging palette of songs from, it turns out, one of our greatest and often underappreciated lyricists. What's not to like?
Andrew Martin at Niteelifeexchange.com
Singer Jeff Macauley has come a long way since first bursting onto the scene in the mid-90s. Long gone is the blond boy-child fresh out of the O'Neill Fellowship singing overindulgent tributes to Dinah Shore with a machine-gun vibrato, whether or not he garnered a Bistro Award in the process. Now a truly distinguished master of the medium, Macauley has brought It Was Me, his tribute to the lyrics of the legendary Norman Gimbel, to Don't Tell Mama, and it isn't merely a joy to behold but completely masterful. Aided by the ever-excellent Tex Arnold at the keys and the equally-stellar John Burr on bass, not to mention the technical direction of Jason Ellis, the evening (which has one more night to go on Sunday the 28th at 7pm at Don't Tell Mama) is a bonafide winner on every possible count.
Macauley deftly displays Gimbel's lyrics as paired with the music of such composers as Antonio Carlos Jobim, Toots Thielemanns, David Shire, Moose Charlap, Charles Fox, Gilbert Becaud and Michael Legrand, and these are never in more crystal-clear abundance as with "Meditation" (entitled "Meditacao" in the original Portuguese), "It Goes Like It Goes," both "Killing Me Softly With His Song" and "I Got a Name," "I Will Follow Him" (with music by Franck Pourcel and Paul Mariat) besides the jazz classic "Bluesette." Medleys are also here but never presented over-abundantly, as with "The Conquering Hero," "Must Be Given to You" and "Only Rainbows," or "The Boy from Ipanema" and "How Insensitive." And coupling of both "I Will Wait for You" and "Watch What Happens," as well as the never-ending fun of "Girl" and "Wonder Woman," make this a beautifully-rounded evening. One also can't forget the theme song to the classic cult film "Where's Poppa?" with the music of Jack Elliott. Finally, there's the show's title number and the encore "Live For Life" (with music by Francis Lai), which leaves the audience emerging from the showroom fully convinced that they've just witnessed what could be an extremely important re-immersion into cabaret on Macauley's part.
It Was Me, and Jeff Macauley, may be packing up shop this time around on Saturday the 28th, but it's a very safe bet that they'll be back before long. This is just too good a show to let sit by the wayside without an encore.
Stu Hamstra at CabaretHotlineOnline.com
Norman Gimbel? Not exactly a household word - but, as Jeff revealed, Norman Gimbel won an Oscar for "It Goes Like It Goes" from Norma Rae and is responsible for some of the most recognizable and best-loved lyrics of the last half-century.
The thing I love about these "anthology" type shows is the brand new information you learn about something you thought you knew all about. For one, I did not realize that Mr. Gimbel wrote the lyrics to "Killing Me Softly With His Song". I actually heard Roberta Flack sing this at a long ago Newport Jazz Festival which I happened upon while driving through Providence RI many, many years ago - might have been in 1975 when she released her #1 hit recording of the song. I had always simply assumed she had written it! And Mr. Gimbel also wrote the lyrics for the themes to the TV shows Wonder Woman, Laverne & Shirley and Happy Days. His variety of styles was astounding.
As astounding was the ease with which Jeff Macaulay developed, formed and presented the songs teamed with musical director Tex Arnold (who's arrangements were impeccable and memorable, as usual).
This is one of those "complete package" shows - great songs, great arrangements, great vocals, great writing, great presentation - and with 3 shows scheduled for October, I want to return and experience it again.
Lynn DiMenna at Cabaret Scenes
Norman Gimbel, you ask, who is Norman Gimbel? Isn’t he the guy who founded that old department store? Nooooo, he’s a lyricist and a VERY good one and Bistro Award-winning performer Jeff Macauley has paid tribute to the repertoire of the prolific writer in a show called It Was Me: The Lyrics of Norman Gimbel.Unless you’d done the extensive research that Macauley has, you might never imagine that Gimbel, who won an Oscar for “It Goes Like It Goes” (David Shire) from the movie Norma Raeand Grammys for “The Girl from Ipanema” (Antonio Carlos Jobim) and “Killing Me Softly with His Song” (Charles Fox) might also have collaborated with composer Michel Legrand writing the English lyrics for beloved pop standards like "Watch What Happens," "I Will Wait for You," as well as for the theme songs to over seventy films and TV series including Wonder Woman, Laverne & Shirley and Happy Days.
With exceptional arrangements by the masterful Tex Arnold and “cool cat” Jon Burr on bass, Macauley surprised his audience with one Gimbel gem after another. His upbeat opener, “Let Go,” (his translation of the original Baden Powell lyrics), set the perfect tone for a song list that also included everything from Peggy March’s hit “I Will Follow Him” (Frank Pourcel and Paul Mauriat), to the theme song from the movie A Man and a Woman, (Francis Lai; English lyrics by Gimbel and Jerry Keller.)
There’s a pleasant, husky, conversational quality in Macauley’s singing that, without a lot of frills and flourishes, allows you to focus on the words, their eloquence and meaning. Along with his relaxed, quiet confidence, it was so effective in the title song, that one delighted audience member—the marvelous Marilyn Maye—was overheard uttering her definitive stamp of approval: “That’s darling!”
MWAH!: The Dinah Shore Show at The Crown & Anchor, Provincetown, June 2017, with Maestro Barry Levitt. Photos: Bob Bonds LotsaShots.com.
Header photo: Le Grand Tour: The Music of Michel Legrand at the Metropolitan Room, New York, August 2016. Photo by James Gavin.
Header photo: Le Grand Tour: The Music of Michel Legrand at the Metropolitan Room, New York, August 2016. Photo by James Gavin.