Ella
The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis
Through April 13
RAC Blogger: Debra Kokorudz

Having made an attempt at a professional singing career, there are many singers whom I admire, and I mere handful that I flat-out worship. There is a certain etiquette involved, and there are some singers that you just don’t “do” when it comes to covering their songs. Sure, an artist can do their own take, if it is well done, but real emulation of someone’s signature pieces? You better have your stuff together, especially if we are talking Barbara, Aretha, or most of all, Ella.

Ella Fitzgerald is in that flat-out worship category. And I approached The Repertory Theatre’s production of Ella with excitement, and, I must admit, a note of skepticism. “The music will be great, but she won’t sing like Ella. There’s no way she could capture that unmistakable style.” (She, being Tony-nominee Tina Fabrique.) How WRONG I was. She was the embodiment of Ella, capturing those haunting high notes that plunge down into a throaty croon.

The show is set in 1966 during a rehearsal and then concert in Nice, France, where Ella has been instructed to “patter” with the audience. When she resists, her producer tells her that Frank Sinatra does, it, and Lady Day did it. But Ella insists she can’t be compared to them, her life wasn’t like that. And then her story begins. As much as I worship Ella’s talent, I knew nothing of her life. Perhaps because she wasn’t scandalous in the ways that some of her contemporaries were. Yet, she did suffer many hardships that certainly shaped the performer she became. Even if those hardships somehow made her “the nice one.”

The story of her life weaves in and out of the songs of her life. But, this production is not like a traditional “musical”, with the songs doing some of the storytelling. The songs are a both a centerpiece and a backdrop of familiarity.  She recounts the details of her childhood –  working as a lookout for cops at a bordello as “snake-hips Fitz”, and suffering beatings at an orphanage after being arrested by said cops – with humor, anger, and the attitude of a survivor. Her first performance, “Judy”, her first paying gig, “Cow Cow Boogie”, her first love, “They Can’t Take That Away From Me”, her first movie, “A Tisket A Tasket”. The songs she made famous frame each moment of reflection.

I don’t know if the guy next to me was bothered by my toe-tapping and head-bobbing throughout the show, but I couldn’t help it. He’s lucky I didn’t bust out singing along with Tina. And there was a girl in her late teens in front of me who came by herself, (maybe a singer/actress-to-be) who was practically dancing in her seat. I think that’s the true measure of the show's success. Because “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing). And Ella’s Got It!