Tyne Daly shines at cabaret, too
By: Leslie Katz
Examiner Staff Writer
January 13, 2010
 |
|
Tyne Daly has a fun act at the Rrazz Room in San Francisco. (Getty Images)
|
Tyne Daly may be known as Mary Beth Lacey to the masses, and as Mama Rose from “Gypsy” to Broadway lovers. But she’s a decidedly different person in her delightfully quirky cabaret act.
In town at the Rrazz Room (her “Cagney & Lacey” TV partner Sharon Gless also happens to be in The City, in a play at Theatre Artaud), Daly sings her way through the decades in a one-of-a-kind show that touches on influences from Stephen Sondheim to Rudy Vallee to Jerry Herman to Buddy Holly.
Backed by pianist-arranger John McDaniel, drummer Kelly Park and bassist Buca Necar, Daly, clearly a word enthusiast, sings with conviction, sells her tunes with distinction and complements them with fun offbeat banter.
She says the numbers loosely are tied together by the theme of time ("not Tyne,” she jokes) and the tricks it plays.
On Tuesday’s opening night, she began with “Some People” from “Gypsy,” seeming happy to get it out of the way before moving on to more obscure and unusual material: “Life’s a Funny Proposition,” “Esther Co-ed” and even an a cappella 13th-century ballad.
Highlights included “Dear World” from the musical of the same name, and the rousing Bessie Smith tune “Send Me to the ‘Lectric Chair.” Daly mentioned that singing the song makes her feel good and that she would do it on the set of her TV show “Judging Amy.”
McDaniel’s gorgeous instrumental solo, “Stardust,” calmed down the antics for a bit, until Daly dug up a few fun “second girl” show tunes: “Adelaide’s Lament,” “Ooh, My Feet” and “I Can Cook Too.”
Closing with “Oh Boy,” a moving ballad quite unlike Buddy Holly’s original rock ‘n’ roll ditty, Daly had the room enthralled. As she sang, “Oh boy, the world can see / That you were meant for me,” her musical theater fans exemplified that sentiment.
THEATER REVIEW
Tyne Daly
Where: Rrazz Room, Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St., San Francisco
When: 8 p.m. Wednesday-Friday, 7 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday
Tickets: $40 to $50
Contact: (866) 468-3399; www.therrazzroom.com
