Denise
Cooper presents
"Everything the Traffic Will Allow"
The Songs and Sass of Ethel Merman
Written and performed
by KLEA BLACKHURST
Acclaimed Show Re-opens September 22nd at Jack Rose
Original Cast Recording on Fynsworth Alley Due in October
"Everything
The Traffic Will Allow" Æ The Songs and Sass of Ethel Merman, written
and performed by Klea Blackhurst re-opens UPSTAIRS AT JACK ROSE (771
Eighth Avenue, NYC - SmartTix 212-206-1515) on September 22nd for
a limited engagement through November 11th. The much-talked about
show captured critics and audiences alike during previous sold-out
runs at UPSTAIRS AT JACK ROSE and Danny's Skylight Room. The musical
show features Michael Rice and the Pocket Change Trio (Michael Rice,
piano; Steve Bartosik, drums; Ray Kilday, bass). "Everything the Traffic
Will Allow" plays three shows per week: Saturdays at 8:00 & 10:30
pm and Sundays at 7:00 pm. Tickets are $35, plus a 2-drink minimum.
Pre-show dining will apply to the minimum. Fynsworth Alley will release
the original cast album of "Everything The Traffic Will Allow" in
October.
"Everything the Traffic
Will Allow" is Klea Blackhurst's loving tribute to the songs made
famous by the legendary stage personality Ethel Merman. The show features
such songs as "I Got Rhythm" from GIRL CRAZY, "You're the Top / Blow,
Gabriel, Blow" from ANYTHING GOES, and "There's No Business Like Show
Business" from ANNIE GET YOUR GUN. Also present are Merman ballads
such as, "Just a Moment Ago" from HAPPY HUNTING and "I Got Lost in
His Arms," from ANNIE GET YOUR GUN which show a tender contrast to
the brash staccato that made Merman famous. Merman aficionados will
recognize "World, Take Me Back," an original song written especially
for her from HELLO, DOLLY! that was cut when she chose not to do the
original run of the show. When Merman finally agreed to play the title
role of Dolly Levi on Broadway in 1970 for more than 200 performances,
composer Jerry Herman returned the song to the show.
"Everything the Traffic
Will Allow" is not a recreation of Ms. Merman, but a paean to the
great Broadway legend. Blackhurst's connection to Ethel Merman began
as a child in Salt Lake City, Utah. Klea's mother was a musical comedy
actress who played the great Annie Oakley on stage, and according
to Blackhurst, "I played the ANNIE GET YOUR GUN cast album over and
over and over again, never tiring of singing along with Merman or
standing on the fireplace hearth using a hairbrush as my microphone.
Because of my mother's voice and that record, I thought that all women
sang like that. It simply never occurred to me that they didn't."
Klea Blackhurst is an actor,
singer and musician. Her first solo effort, "Klea Blackhurst: A Concert,"
debuted at the Westbeth Theatre Center in April 1999 and moved to
THE DUPLEX in Greenwich Village for a successful summer engagement.
She has appeared at The Mabel Mercer Foundation's Tenth and Eleventh
Annual Cabaret Conventions at Town Hall on the same bill as Cybill
Shepherd and Michael Feinstein.
Klea made her New York
debut Off-Broadway in 1987, replacing Debra Monk as the perpetually
enthusiastic drummer in OIL CITY SYMPHONY at Circle in the Square
Downtown. She went on to originate the role of "Rennabelle" in RADIO
GALS which played at Arkansas Rep., The Pasadena Playhouse, The La
Mirada Center for the Performing Arts and The Coconut Grove Playhouse
before settling into an Off-Broadway run at the John Houseman Theatre.
Klea can be heard on the original cast recording of RADIO GALS as
well as the Varese Sarabande compilations "Lost in Boston IV," "Unsung
Irving Berlin," and "The Best of Off-Broadway."
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