There are hardly words adequate to describe the phenomenon that is Marilyn Maye. At the age of 97, she is still doing sets that last almost 1 1/2 hours, belting out her songs with a voice that belies her age and moving about the stage with an ease that is equally impressive.
For her recent residency at 54 Below, which ended November 6, Maye dedicated her shows to the memory of Johnny Carson in his centennial year. Carson hosted The Tonight Show for 30 years, and during that time, Maye appeared 76 times, more than any other vocalist. The show included many of the songs that she sang while appearing there. As an added bonus, screens were set up to show clips from the Carson shows on which she performed.
The set I attended opened with a tune by her trio, pianist/musical director Tedd Firth, bassist Tom Hubbard, and drummer Mark McLean. To bring Maye onstage, a video was shown of Carson introducing her. She began with a rousing rendition of “Cabaret,” long a staple of her repertoire. She then reminisced about her relationship with Carson and went into a fitting selection, “The Way We Were.” One song that Carson frequently requested Maye to sing was “Here’s That Rainy Day,” and she sang it in medley with “Stormy Weather.”
Her commentary was engaging, full of tales about her appearances on The Tonight Show, as well as stories about her personal life. At one point, she spoke of a partner she had following three failed marriages. He was a handsome charmer, she said, but she became aware that he was not faithful to her when she was on the road. One time he called her when she was in Burbank for an appearance with Carson. She had decided at that point that their relationship was at a point of no return, so she encouraged him to watch the show that night as she was going to sing something especially for him. What she sang was: “Those Were the Days” and “I Will Survive,” her way of telling him the party was over. At 54 Below, she followed the story with a medley of “As Time Goes By” and “I Cried for You.”
Well-chosen medleys are a regular part of her sets and, on this occasion, she also included “By Myself/Being Alive,” “How About Me/It’s Gonna Take Some Time/Maybe This Time,” and her nod to the season, “Autumn in New York/Autumn Leaves/When October Goes.”
To bring this wonderful evening to a musical close, May sang “That’s All”; and she then graciously thanked the audience for their support before exiting to a standing ovation. She will be appearing at 54 Below again from November 27-28. After that, she will be at Birdland on New Year’s Eve and from January 2-4.-JOE LANG