[Dixielandjazz] After Midnight reviewed

[Robert Ringwald]

K.D. Lang Adds Saucy, Gender-Bending Twist to 'After Midnight'
by Elisabeth Vincentelli
New York Post, February 14, 2014
Winter blues got you down? Just take Broadway's own giant happy pill -- the terrific
revue "After Midnight."
Paying tribute to Duke Ellington and the heady days of Harlem joints like the Cotton
Club, this thrilling jukebox musical has gotten even tighter since opening in November.
Guest star Fantasia Barrino is gone, but she's been replaced by torch singer k.d.
lang, who adds a saucy new gender-bending twist.
"After Midnight" doesn't bother with a plot. Rather, it's a fast-paced series of
numbers backed by the swinging Jazz at Lincoln Center All-Stars big band -- which
sits in full view onstage, and deservedly earns some of the night's biggest applause.
Conceived by Jack Viertel and choreographed/directed by Warren Carlyle, the show
blends dance and vocal styles, all performed with joyful virtuosity. Adriane Lenox
brings down the house with a couple of saucy comic songs, while Julius "iGlide" Chisolm
and Virgil "Lil' O" Gadson fluidly incorporate hip-hop moves in their slo-mo dance
battle.
As the emcee who strolls in now and then, former "West Wing" star Dule Hill seemed
a little stiff during previews, but has grown a lot more comfortable in the role.
One of his duties is introducing segments with excerpts from Langston Hughes poems.
A new one has been found for lang: "Golden girl/In Harlem town/Gold ‐not brown/But
college boy smart."
Lang performs the same four songs Barrino did, but the vibe couldn't be any more
different.
The "American Idol" finalist rode the beat with a jazz instinct, whereas lang --
making a confident Broadway debut -- has a clean, smooth pop approach. Her voice
is so buttery on "Stormy Weather" that you could spread it on toast.
A bigger difference is that Barrino was a sultry siren wrapped in Isabel Toledo's
gorgeous gowns, while lang cuts an androgynous figure in a black tux or white tails
-- not as novel as you'd think since Harlem Renaissance singer Gladys Bentley wore
men's clothes, too. It's as if lang had turned into her mentor, Tony Bennett.
And she throws herself into the action with great relish, dancing about the place
in "Zaz Zuh Zaz" and flirting with a pair of sexy chorus girls in "On the Sunny Side
of the Street."
Sadly, lang's leaving mid-March, when Toni Braxton and Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds take
over. But hey, look on that sunny side: This gives us an excuse to see "After Midnight"
again.
___________________________________
K.D. Lang Winning at 'After Midnight'
by Jennifer Farrar
Associated Press, February 14, 2014
NEW YORK -- Making a stylish Broadway debut, four-time Grammy winner k.d. lang has
taken over for Fantasia Barrino as the special guest vocalist in the colorful music
and dance revue, "After Midnight." Emceed by the affable Dule Hill, the show light-heartedly
celebrates Duke Ellington's years at the Cotton Club nightclub in Harlem.
Strolling in amid the talented African-American cast of the slick, vaudevillian-style
production, lang may have seemed incongruous at first when she made her debut this
week, but she was delightfully comical and winning. Clad in a crisp black suit, and
later, a creamy white tuxedo, she wore a smoothly bashful persona well-suited to
her unique, androgynous style.
She sang her four jazz standards superbly, occasionally dancing a little, and playfully
interacting with the audience, the ensemble and the classy orchestra, The Jazz at
Lincoln Center All-Stars.
She provided a delicate resonance on "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" and a soulful
"Stormy Weather," had mischievous, physical fun with "Zaz Zuh Zaz," and finished
with a tangy, swinging version of "On the Sunny Side of the Street".
Lang, who seemed shy about accepting the audience's enthusiastic applause, will end
her run in the show March 9, followed by Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds and Toni Braxton.
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-Bob Ringwald K6YBV
www.ringwald.com
916/ 806-9551

"Always go to other people's funerals, otherwise they won't come to yours." 
--Lawrence Peter (Yogi) Berra