By Kevin Coughlin
Our only knock against Grover Kemble’s Jimmy Durante tribute on Monday is that you can’t run back to the Bickford Theatre and catch it again.
The 90-minute show was a one-night stand, a one-Leap-Year-Night stand. Let’s hope Kemble won’t make us wait another four years for an encore.
Because this rollicking, knee-slapping good time is a tonic for whatever ails you. Don’t take our word for it. Ask renowned jazz singer John Pizzarelli.
“Fantastic!” Pizzarelli proclaimed after the show. “He shouldn’t ‘Stop the Music!’ He should just keep going.”
“Stop the Music!” was a signature Durante line. Kemble’s got a million of ’em, which he delivered with bravado through a prosthetic proboscis, between Tin Pan Alley sing-alongs.
Aided and abetted by pianist Regan Ryzuk and bassman Tim Metz, as Durante sidekicks Lou Clayton and Eddie Jackson, Kemble recreated the Club Durant, a Roaring Twenties speakeasy where The Schnoz held court.
Our favorite segment was a series of one-liners about politics that are as funny–and true–today as in Durante’s heyday:
“I might run for office..heck, everyone else is doing it!”
“If elected, I promise to..keep on promising!’
“If elected, I promise to… do everything in my power to get re-elected!”
At last, a candidate who tells the unvarnished truth. Jimmy, er, Grover, you have our vote.
Congrats to Morristown Green for the great headline!