What the critics are saying about Pearl Bailey...By Request

" [Roz] White soft-pedals it herself, gracefully mimicking Bailey's trademark low, mellow tones while dropping wisecracks between the lyrics. The patter is nearly nonstop, with White-as-Bailey punning and joking about everything from love to footwear. (Her fancy heels are too tight: 'These are just my one-hour shoes,' White explains as she kicks them off for a spell.)

This sort of laid-back bio-cabaret has become the house specialty at MetroStage, and White -- who conceived of the show and wrote the slim book with Thomas W. Jones II -- keeps Bailey's professional face front and center. The black entertainer's life and times are skimmed, not explored, so comments about her marriage to white drummer Louis Bellson or winning the Medal of Freedom feel like tossed-off facts.

Luckily, this drive-by info (70 minutes, directed with warm efficiency by Shirley Basfield Dunlap) comes with a nice songbook. White draws extensively from Bailey's '16 Most Requested Songs' album, including earnest versions of the Bailey signature ballads 'Tired' and 'Here You Come With Love.' The four-piece band onstage swings lightly (drummer Greg Holloway uses brushes more often than sticks), and while the musicianship is generally fine, White's Bailey is more vibrant whenever she partners with more than just a tune..."

READ the entire Washington Post review "At MetroStage, a Pearl With Charming Luster" >

"If you enjoy live R&B/jazz and are looking for an entertaining musical evening out, the MetroStage world premiere production of Pearl Bailey . . . By Request admirably fills the bill. If you fondly remember Pearl Bailey and her music, you are doubly blessed. On the other hand, if you do not have much familiarity with Pearl Bailey and want to understand why she was one of the most beloved entertainers of the twentieth century, the show only provides a partial glimpse into this unique lady.

Pearl Bailey . . . By Request is set in a nightclub and is based upon a 1950’s album of Pearl Bailey’s most requested songs from her Columbia Records era. As a cabaret performance, the show is an unqualified success. Roz White is a terrific performer. Area theatre fans who have seen her in shows like Two Queens One Castle and Three Sistahs know that the lady can sing. Earlier in her career she performed as Effie in a national tour of Dreamgirls, a role that help you appreciate the fact that she has seriously powerful pipes..."

READ the entire DC Theatre Scene review >

Tickets are available now for Isn't It Romantic

MetroStage favorite Jimi Ray Malary returns to MetroStage after past hit shows, Ellington: The Life and Music of The Duke and Nat King Cole: King of Cool. This tribute features the songs that epitomize the many stages of romance from three of popular music’s most prolific and enduring songwriters: Jerome Kern, Rodgers & Hart and George & Ira Gershwin. Direct from the Stackner Cabaret at Milwaukee Rep, Mr. Malary will be joined by Lori Williams (another MetroStage favorite featured in All Night Strut in 2005.)

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS ONLINE...

Tickets: $40-45

Performances Thursdays & Fridays at 8pm,

Saturdays at 5 & 8:30pm

and Sundays at 3 & 7pm

(No show on Thanksgiving)

Keith Donaldson's Reading Monday, October 20

The Playwrights Forum of Washington

in association with

The Alexandria Performing Arts Association

and

MetroStage

Proudly present the staged reading of

Keith M. Donaldson's

The Greers of Magnolia Court

a two act drama

Directed by Dorothy Neumann

Monday, October 20, 2008

7:00 PM

FREE

South from 14th St. Bridge take GW Pkwy to Alexandria (becomes N. Washington St), turn Left on Madison Street (going toward the Potomac River) Go 3 blocks and turn Left on N. Royal Street. Go 4 blocks, and turn Right on 3rd Street then immediately Left into the parking lot. The theatre is the big glass entrance facing the parking lot.

MetroStage

1201 North Royal Street

Alexandria, VA 22314

Info contact: keithmdonaldson@yahoo.com

Please stay after the reading for a discussion of the play with the Director and the Playwright.

An award winning book in the Multicultural Fiction & Political categories at the 2008 Next Generation Indie Book Awards - The Hill People - a Laura Wolfe novel by Keith M. Donaldson is available at www.bn.com and www.donaldsonkeith.com.

Pearl Bailey...By Request BEGINS

PAY-WHAT-YOU-CAN

Thursday, October 16 at 8:00pm

Please come directly to the theater
and check in at the Box Office.

Box Office opens one hour prior to performance.

Seating is general admission. Space is limited.

Training for a Lifetime for the Role of Pearl Bailey

"Ever since singer-actress Roz White found out she shared a birthday (March 29) with Pearl Bailey, she's felt a kinship with the legendary performer. 'I thought, wow, we look alike . . . so I started reading her books and learning her quotes,' White says. Bailey, who died in 1990, also spent part of her childhood in Washington, where White grew up.

'She could work a ballad like the best of 'em. She just was the completely well-rounded entertainer. . . . She had it all,' observes White, who is starring in a cabaret-style salute, 'Pearl Bailey . . . by Request,' at MetroStage in Alexandria tomorrow through Nov. 9. The show is an expanded version of a piece White performed at THEARC in Anacostia..."

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE WASHINGTON POST FEATURE ARTICLE >

Take a look at the set for our next two productions

The set for Pearl Bailey...By Request and Isn't It Romantic will be the same art deco design used for Isn't It Romantic as it was performed at the Stackner Cabaret at Milwaukee Rep in Milwaukee, Wisconsin this Fall. It is based on Susannah M. Barnes' stylish design that is rich in detail. A large shimmer curtain will be the backdrop for Pearl Bailey...By Request and cabaret tables will be added to the foreground.

Copies of paintings, by Bill Brauer, showing the backs of women dancing with men will be added to the set for Isn't It Romatic to complete the romantic cabaret atmosphere.