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Gershwin '29 @ Cain Park 6/17 When a great performer collides with a great composer, the result can be pure magic! In this case, it’s three performers – Joan Ellison, Mark Flanders and Jennifer Heemstra – and the composing team of (mostly) George and Ira Gershwin. Their performance last Tuesday at Cain Park’s Alma Theater was entirely magical in effect. Ellison and Flanders (who are married to each other in real life) present songs with a bit of patter (and a few dance steps) with the super-talented Heemstra at the piano. But then, just to shake things up a bit, Ellison joins in for some piano, 4-hands numbers, and the result is fantastic!

Heemstra started the proceedings with a dazzling display of pianistic ragtime—a specialty of Gershwin, who after all, began composing around 1915 – among the peak years of that variety of happy-sounding music. A medley of Swanee, S’Wonderful and Lady Be Good clearly indicated what was ahead for this delightful evening.

Except – who knew that Gershwin also wrote a ‘yodeling’ tune? True. From the 1924 Lady Be Good, which was to highlight the Astaire siblings, came I’d Rather Charleston, which also provided Ms. Ellison with the opportunity to show off her dancing skills. Setting the scene for that unusual treat was another unexpected pleasure: a swinging duet on kazoos of Somebody Loves Me.

We were treated to a wide variety of Gershwin tunes – some familiar, and some not-so, plus one sort of interloper (I Won’t Dance by Jerome Kern) that seemed a natural adjunct to Gershwin’s Shall We Dance? There were love songs, patter songs, sassy tunes or those that were served best by being belted – and Ms. Ellison is a master at this art. She gets a special commendation for backing away from the (necessary) microphone when she gets to her power range, saving everyone’s ears! (Although I'm not fond of microphones indoors, they are a necessary evil for out-of-doors concerts, especially with a mega-amplified rock concert a few hundred yards away!)

Along with the Astaires (Fred and Adele) Ginger Rogers got her big break at the age of 19 with But Not For Me, and some years later it was Ethel Merman’s turn with I Got Rhythm. Echoing the political similarities between the Hoover & Roosevelt years to today’s ‘interesting’ times, the trio presented a grand medley from Of Thee I Sing, for which the Gershwins won a Pulitzer Prize.

For an encore, Mr. Flanders did a great rendition of the best-selling Gershwin song ever – Swanee!

To keep up with this versatile and entertaining trio, visit their website http://wwwCirca1939.com.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Kelly Ferjutz artswriterATroadrunner.com
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