On the Town with Buddy Beaverhausen: Rita McKenzie Brings Ethel Merman Back to Life @ Feinstein's 54 Below

Everything came up roses last night with Rita McKenzie's grand impersonation of the late Ethel Merman in a night of song at Feinstein's 54 Below in NYC.

Ms McKenzie made her way through the Ethel Merman songbook with aplomb, singing and gesturing in an uncanny recreation. Even her patter was perfect!

It was a pleasure to be back at 54 Below, my first time since Sarah Dash's birthday brunch and since Michael Feinstein took over. The tech people are still top-notch and the service is always polite and attentive. Rita had quite a crowd for her return to that venue.

Ethel Merman, with her big belter voice, is quite a dynamo, and Rita captures her so wonderfully, it's easy to get lost in this performance, drift away and think you're watching the real deal. I didn't spot one false step through the entire show.

Buddy Beaverhausen highly recommends seeing this award-winning, critically acclaimed act when it is next performed in Manhattan. I never wanted it to end!

2015 Christmas Countdown featuring Ethel Merman

Ethel Merman is a grande dame of the Broadway stage and an entertainment icon. She is such an icon of the stage, recording industry and film, in fact, that her image ended up on a US postage stamp. I still have one, and I keep it pinned to my bulletin board.

But here she is on a Christmas episode of tv's Sesame Street, spreading good cheer by belting out "Tomorrow" (from Annie) like there's no tomorrow!
That damned sun better come out if it knows what's best for it!

Clearly, her performance inspired Grace Jones' spirited rendition of the song. At this stage of her career, The Merm may look as if she's morphing into Bert Lahr, but her voice is undiminished by time, as powerful as ever and singularly that of Ethel Merman's.

"Imogene! What's the matter? You look like an idiot!"