By Andrew Gans

Broadway belters Alison Fraser and Mary Testa, who had been part of the cast of William Finn's In Trousers over two decades ago, have recently been spreading their joy at the Laurie Beechman Theatre in a concert act simply titled Together Again. The swell party is actually a tribute to two artists: Fraser's late husband, the acclaimed composer Rusty Magee, whose songs comprise Together Again, and the late actress Pattie Darcy Jones, who was both Magee's muse and Fraser's frequent co-star. Fraser and Testa's styles couldn't be more different, yet somehow their voices and their personalities blend well, and their affection for Magee and his work is obvious. Fraser scores with what may be Magee's best tune, the shattering "New York Romance," playing up the song's comedy while not losing its heart, and Testa beguiles with the title tune from Magee and Charles Busch's musical The Green Heart. Other highlights include a charming medley of kids' songs ("Growing and Changing"/"Skunk, Dance in the Sugar"/"All the Difference in the World"/"How I Love My House") and the toe-tapping "Balance of Power" (from Magee and Lewis Black's The Czar of Rock and Roll). Guest star Annie Golden also brought down the house with her thrilling vocals on "Don't You Go and Get Famous." The two encores were equally welcome: Testa on the art song "High Flight" and Fraser on the melodic and moving "Sweet Appreciation." And, good news, additional dates have been announced for Together Again, which will be seen at the Laurie Beechman Nov. 24 at 10 PM, Nov. 30 at 8 PM and Dec. 11 at 11:30 PM. The Laurie Beechman Theatre is located within the West Bank Cafe at 407 West 42nd Street. There is a $25 cover charge and a $15 food-drink minimum; for reservations call (212) 695-6909.

By David Finkle

Something I already knew was that Rusty Magee was good. I didn't realize the songwriter-performer — who died five years ago at 47 — was that good, though, until Mary Testa and Alison Fraser brought Together Again to the Laurie Beechman Theatre at the West Bank Café. The show, deserving better than a two-night booking, is a Magee retrospective, and I challenge anyone to rack his or her brain for a better pair to demonstrate how vital the late tunesmith's work remains. Let's say a better trio, because for the final two songs (that's before beg-off encores), Testa and Fraser are joined by the always breathtaking Annie Golden.

Yes, three voices of the highest performing caliber in Manhattan are raised in song for that exhilarating 10-minute stretch. And when only two of them are dueting or soloing, there's enough excitement to fuel a Boeing 777. Testa is one of those fresh and direct singers who can do anything — saucy, serious, strong, or sensuous. Fraser's tones are equally solid, and she's got her evergreen soubrette insouciance going. The properly named Golden can race from whisper to train whistle in seconds flat, which leaves audiences cheering.

Smiling as they hold hands, Fraser and Testa open the set with Magee's "Perfect," which is about friendship. The ditty lives up to its title as a description of what obviously underlies their bond — Fraser being Magee's widow and Testa clearly a close buddy. Early in the set, there's a medley of children's songs for which the two morph into youngsters having romper-room fun, but most of the contents are what Testa amusingly dubs "the adult songs." Though the Magee-Fraser marriage must have been built on a firm foundation, the late writer had profound insights about troubled relationships, which he expressed in ballads that Fraser and Testa infuse with depth. Fraser's "Wrong for Me" triggers sustained applause for the simmering anger seeping off the stage like molten lava, and so does Testa's "Song Because I'm Leaving" for the same impassioned reason.

Magee wasn't a guy to go to for the easy power-ballad hook, and his work is more interesting for that. He was also able to drop into different genres with finesse. The ultrapolitical "Balance of Power" (written with Lewis Black for The Czar of Rock and Roll) is something Randy Newman might covet. The hot rock anthem "Don't You Go and Get Famous" — with Allison Leyton-Brown driving the beat at the piano — is Golden's opportunity to rattle the rafters. At closing, Testa sings an art song called "High Flight," which is John Gillespie Magee's poem set to Magee's music. If she's ever sung anything more beautifully, I'll eat this review. Fraser does Magee’s setting of Walt Whitman's "Thanks in Old Age," here called "Sweet Appreciation," and it's icing on the cake.

In closing, I'll point out that of all the songs about New York City that aren't sung enough and may rarely be sung at all, the best is arguably Magee's "New York Romance," which Fraser does as if she's lived every word, which perhaps she has. Here are only some of those words:

It's a subway door that closes,

And you only see the pain.

It's a bagel at Grand Central,

While you're waiting for her train.

It's a crosstown connection.

It's a taxi in the rain.

It's a New York romance.

The show is sweet appreciation indeed.

Presented by and at the Laurie Beechman Theatre at the West Bank Café,

407 W. 42nd St., NYC.

212. (212)695-6909.
     

Alison Fraser & Mary Testa

Together Again

Laurie Beechman Theatre
New York, NY

In a repeat performance, Alison Fraser and Mary Testa celebrated the music of Rusty Magee, Fraser’s late husband, to a sold-out crowd. Rusty, born Benjamin Rush Magee, was a composer and lyricist whose musical The Green Heart, written with Charles Busch, was staged by the Manhattan Theatre Club. Rusty also won the New York Outer Critics’ Circle James Fleetwood Award for Moliere’s Scapin in 1993. He was a prolific composer, arranger and musical director, writing everything from rock to a children’s Christmas opera Flurry Tale. He died at the age of 47 in 2003 after a battle with cancer.

The loving chemistry between Fraser and Testa, as they hold hands, permeates the stage in this celebration of life, love, sadness, disappointments and renewal as they open with “Perfect Kind of Love.” Mary Testa, even when serious, still has that “I can be trouble” twinkle that we’ve come to love as we recall her most recent Broadway performance as Melpomene and Medusa in Xanadu. Alison Fraser is direct and filled with endless emotion, aglow in the music of her late husband. She is currently wowing audiences on Broadway as Tessie Tura in Gypsy!

“New York Romance,” a romance of the street, desperate and full of lies, is filled with soulful insights about relationships and is only one of several of Magee's songs that express the inner depths of human frailty. “The Green Heart” conveys the ‘fragile feeling locked inside a heart that hasn’t had a chance to grow.’ “Why Am I Gettin’ Too Old” explores the disappointment with life’s natural evolution, albeit with a bit of fun. “The Balance of Power,” (in Island rhythm) written with Lewis Black for The Czar of Rock and Roll, is an ode to the absurdity of politics. Magee surely had a style of conveying with music the varying genres of life.

Dubbed the Queen of Rock n’ Roll, guest Annie Golden, almost causes a riot with Don’t You Go and Get Famous, as Fraser and Testa supply back-up harmonies, to the cheering crowd. Set to poetry were encores “High Flight” (Testa) and the beautiful Walt Whitman’s “Thanks in Old Age” dubbed “Sweet Appreciation” (Fraser), a fitting close to an evening of heart.

Magee will forever be a part of musical history, remembered with the new Rusty Magee Archives at Brown University, his alma mater. On piano, Allison Leyton Brown; guitar Bernd Schoenhart; bass Doug Largent; drums Russ Meisner.

Sandi Durell
Cabaret Scenes
October 20, 2008
www.cabaretscenes.org