“Bette And Barry” Offer A Bit Of Pop Music History |
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Wednesday, 03 November 2010 19:00
Standing O Productions concluded its Cabaret Concert Series with Bette & Barry at the Baths on October 22. Performing in the show were (back row, l-r): Debbie Barber-Eaton and Ron Giddings and (front row, l-r) Jamie Miller, Sara Cobb and Ali Vellon.
By Sandra Kemick For an intimate night at the theater, there is nothing quite like a cabaret performance. Not only does the audience get to hear a great selection of songs, but they can connect with the performers as they banter with them throughout the evening. Standing O Productions, a locally based community theater, includes a group of cabarets as part of its season at Chesapeake Academy’s Black Box Theatre. Standing O’s season ended with Bette and Barry at the Baths, an homage to the fruitful partnership of Bette Midler and Barry Manilow. The show gave the performers a chance to sing from a wide range of material as they duplicated the style of Bette and Barry, without resorting to impersonation. The two famous singers met by chance when Manilow filled in as a pianist performing with Bette at the Continental Baths in New York City in 1970. He later became her musical director for the successful albums and tours that followed.
Talented pianist, singer and artistic director of the company Ron Giddings takes on the part of Manilow through the ages, beginning in the bathhouse attire of robe and flip-flops, through those glorious days of platform shoes and into the present. Singer Debbie Barber-Eaton bravely takes on the role of Bette Midler, celebrating her brashness as well as the emotionality of her ballads. The couple opens the show with a friendly banter duet of "Slow Boat to China," then gives the audience a personal background of the music industry legends. The show comes to life as Giddings and Barber-Eaton are joined by Debbie’s Little Snack Cakes, Standing O’s version of the Harlettes. The back-up singers - Sara Cobb, Jamie Miller and Ali Vellon - really deliver the fun with their great voices, personality and energy. Their presence keeps the audience entertained with favorites such as "Friends" and "Leader of the Pack." Manilow’s endless number of hits and world tours make it fun to remember he first paid the bills by writing advertising jingles. The Snack Cakes perform his medley of iconic songs, advertising everything from chicken to McDonald’s, with the appropriate props. Barber-Eaton does not shy away from doing Bette at her most outlandish, as she sings about the invention of a familiar garment of female under attire. In the days before the Victoria’s Secret catalog, her song and banter choices were truly groundbreaking. Bette could always hawk a ballad, and Barber-Eaton proved that repeatedly in the second segment of the show. A homage to her collaboration with Rosemary Clooney as well as her farewell to Johnny Carson brought the show to an emotional end, with "I Remember You" and "Hey There." As the show concluded the performers nodded to those towel-clad souls who first gave Barry and Bette an audience, and trusted in them to stretch the limits of their talents and imagination. Alas, many of them did not survive the disease of the ‘70s and ‘80s, but they nonetheless gave these popular singers a place to perform and grow. Standing O’s next production is a family show for the holidays. Based on Jean Shepard’s hilarious memoir, A Christmas Story will be performed December 10-12. For more information visit
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