Dixie Land

The Café Carlyle opened its 50th season with Dixie Carter — and what a golden jubilee celebration it is! Making it all the sweeter, the star of TV’s Designing Women has teamed up with her old friend, songwriter-pianist John Wallowitch to put on an act that is, by turns, winsome and wildly eccentric. Show-biz veterans, Carter and Wallowtich make a playful pair; they don’t take themselves too seriously but they are intent on entertaining the audience.

Dixie Carter is less a singer than she is a personality — and an actress. She isn’t going to wow you with her voice, but give her half a chance and she’ll make you forget about flats and sharps; you’ll be thinking, instead, about her unique combination of flash and charm. Besides, how can you resist a performer who extols the virtues of “Cheap Decadent Drivel,” a hilarious song by Wallowitch that she sings as a duet with the composer? In fact, it’s the chemistry between Carter and Wallowitch that makes this show so delightful. Their affection for each other is as aromatic as a bouquet of roses, and it permeates the performance. When they sing “Two Sleepy People” (Loesser-Carmichael) together, their rendition is as warm as a down comforter.

Both Carter and Wallowitch are known for their comedic sensibilities, and there is plenty of fun in this show. From Carter’s impressions of Mae West and Marlene Dietrich to her rendition of Weird Al Yankovic’s “One More Minute,” she’s great at getting laughs. Her duet with Wallowitch on Jerry Herman’s “Bosom Buddies” (from Mame) is also hilarious. The serious material in the show gives it balance, and the choices are smart — for example, Wallowitch’s “This Moment,” a song of ineffable beauty that Carter sings with grace and feeling.

This is surely the moment to see these two great talents. Dixie Carter and John Wallowitch continue at the Carlyle through October 9.

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Take a Note

David Vernon has style and a voice. He doesn’t, however, have a clue. For all of his impressive vocal pyrotechnics in his upper register, and for all the theatricality of his performance, there’s a sameness about his approach to each number in his show at Helen’s that flattens the songs’ effectiveness.

Here is a singer who is truly up to the vocal challenges of, for example, “Bring Him Home” from Les Miz but who misses the song’s dramatic impact because he’s intent upon making it sound pretty rather than making it sound imperative. If he threw out his ill-conceived opening number — Kander & Ebb’s “Willkommen,” from Cabaret — and spiked his program with more songs in which he can display greater dynamic range, such as “Ordinary Miracles” (Marvin Hamlisch/Alan & Marilyn Bergman), the show would be infinitely more exciting.

Though his gig at Helen’s is a disappointment, Vernon is a fascinating performer — definitely someone to keep an eye on.

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[To contact the Siegels directly, e-mail them at siegels@theatermania.com.]