CAT SINGS ELLA
DIRECTOR: Paul Spence
CAST: Cat Simoni, Paul Spence
VENUE: Rosebank Theatre
UNTIL: June 13
RATING: ****
Cat Simoni has done it again: following her stellar tributes to Barbra Streisand and Francoise Hardy, she now takes on Ella Jane Fitzgerald in a vocal celebration as opposed to straight impersonation.
Abetted by the show’s director and co-performer Paul Spence, who also devised this show, she traces Fitzgerald’s life and career from birth to death, a span of nearly eight decades, with each phase of that remarkable existence accompanied by suitably contemporary music.
The result is a performance of warmth, subtlety, glamour and polish, its energy undiminished by the show’s inordinate length. Simoni’s voice effortlessly commands an impressive range of register, from darkly husky to sweetly clear, capturing a wide diversity of moods and styles.
She is equally at home singing a cappella and accompanied, whether by herself at the keyboard or to the strains of pre-recorded music recalling the rich, jazzy sound of Big Band orchestra. It helps that her personality matches that of Fitzgerald.
Uninhibited and spontaneously outgoing, she quickly establishes a strong rapport with her listeners, flirting with male members of the audience and radiating down-to-earth humour between bursts of song.
Beautifully costumed by Tishy of Morningside, she gleams in cheeky exchanges with Spence, who portrays Frank Rich, an American journalist narrating the life of Ella Fitzgerald. His participation is not strictly necessary to the show, but it does add an extra dimension to Simoni’s performance.
Among an endless succession of well-known hits associated with Fitzgerald, those that stand out are an exceptional rendition of Gershwin’s Summertime, enlivened by variations; the lyrical Skylark; the trio of When the Saints…, Won’t You Come Home?, Bill Bailey, and Alexander’s Ragtime Band, all sung with infectious verve; and Cole Porter’s Just One of Those Things, tinged with the wistfulness of a failed relationship later in the singer’s life.
The musical biography takes us through Fitzgerald’s needy childhood, her early success, her meteoric rise to international stardom, her dismal marriages and failing health.
That is an extensive agenda to cover in one evening, and it says much for the calibre of Simoni’s performance that the audience barely notices how long this tribute takes because of the inclusiveness of songs in the repertoire.
With a little editing, Cat Sings Ella would be even more enchanting.