Naughty with a Band
Reviewed by Iris Mann
Greenway Court Theatre
Closed
For several years Los Angeles theater has been inundated with one-person, autobiographical productions that showcase the actor’s life story, with all its angst and triumphs over various forms of adversity. The phenomenon brings to mind the line that closed every episode of Naked City, the hit series from television’s Golden Age; “There are eight million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them.”
Everyone may have a history that is personally meaningful, and that might even include relatable issues. To be performance-worthy, however, it needs to have a strong hook that makes it unique or of widespread interest, such as attaining fame (or infamy) in the entertainment industry or another prominent sphere of life.
This brings me to Pamela Shaw’s self-created (in collaboration with Addie Johnson Talbott and Ron Orbach) musical memoir, Naughty with a Band, which played only two performances at Greenway Court (June 30 and July 1) after appearances at several European festivals and a run in Australia. Shaw relates her personal story mainly through songs, which are a mix of genres: jazz, pop, rock, blues and ballads. Her vocals are backed by a live, three-piece band and interspersed with brief narration. Yet, while she is obviously quite gifted, her struggles are not that singular.
During her presentation, she takes the audience on her journey from, as she bills it, “obedience to not giving a shit.” Describing her childhood self as a shy, insecure “play by the rules” wallflower from Manhattan, Shaw says her goal was to be like Matilda, the fearless, outspoken, naughty and powerful little girl from Roald Dahl’s novel of the same name. But her parents were discouraging and unsupportive; to illustrate, she relates how, when she wanted ballet lessons as a youngster, her mother, a former model, designer and artist, responded that ballet dancers all had fat legs.
Shaw then leads us through her life, covering her bouts with childhood depression, obesity, two different eating disorders, sexual and substance addiction, lost love, and career reversal, until, finally, she achieves inner freedom and confidence, work on stage and screen, and cabaret and concert bookings all over the world.
It must be said that Shaw is a true triple threat; she moves well (although Zakk Allen’s choreography tended to be repetitive), has a strong voice and a deep well of emotions. But these talents are not displayed to her best advantage in this production. For example, director Daniel Talbott has Shaw perform dance warmup exercises onstage as the audience enters — a choice that adds to the overall sense that the whole evening is more a rehearsal than a finished production. It would have been more effective to have employed photos or simple rear projections to give the anecdotes and the musical numbers (which were well chosen) some context.
The show’s most egregious problem, however, is the overwhelmingly loud music, which too often drowns out Shaw’s songs and speeches. The sensual and often touching lyrics of such numbers as Streets of Dublin, We’ve Got Tonight, I Know You’re There and several others are almost totally lost, along with a good deal of her narration. Too often, the music seems to be competing with Shaw for the audience’s attention.
A rethinking of how to stage the material might better display Shaw’s considerable abilities.
Greenway Court Theatre, 544 N. Fairfax Ave., Fairfax; Closed. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/naughty-with-a-band-tickets-63144054567. Running time: 78 minutes with no intermission.
