Rep Remembers Nat King Cole

The Stackner Cabaret concept that opens the Milwaukee Rep’s new season may not be quite the Unforgettable experience its title suggest. But it is a pleasant concert diversion with extremely capable musicians more accurately described in its subtitle: “John-Mark McGaha Sings Nat King Cole.”

McGaha is not a Nat imitator but a polished baritone and cabaret veteran who has performed other celebrities in concert. He shares affinity as well as clarity with Cole – also Baptist Alabama roots, mothers who forced them to learn piano at an early age and instrumental virtuosity. He moves from guitar to piano interludes while traversing the Cole repertoire and the more positive and human aspects of Nat’s history.

We get as folksy asides some intimate details of how he went from jazz pianist to leading pop personality of the 1940s and 1950s. We get a simplified version of how he responded to racist innuendos, later in life turning to civil rights and refusal to appear before segregated audiences. This is explored in conversational sympathy — how he had a late blooming of social consciousness and health awareness before dying far too young (in his forties).

Not explored, though I think today’s cabaret audience is more than ready to understand it without chilling their appreciation of his sunny American Songbook, is how the earlier Cole sought just to get by in racist America and ignore the more sobering details (leading Thurgood Marshall to call him an Uncle Tom) before moving forward into social consciousness. Audiences of today need to see this conversion, too, as important as was his awareness of what smoking did to his health.

Still, the main takeaway from Unforgettable should be to positively restore attention to the Cole opus. His biggest hits were not only infectiously cheerful, but his belief in romance and honest schmaltz helped many songs soar to the top — and they should not be overlooked today because of their optimism, as I fear has become the case.

The first half of the brisk show reminds us of the musician’s range with the likes of “Route 66” (the Nat King Cole jazz trio got incredible kicks out of this one), “Unforgettable” (a 1951 hit for him and for his daughter Natalie Cole four decades later, when she sang to his digital tape) and “Nature Boy” (still the most optimistic pop song on record about human love).

But it is in the second half where the full weight of the romantic optimism comes through – “Mona Lisa,” “Smile (though your heart is aching)” and even “L-O-V-E.” The Nat King Cole sound that millions smooched to, when they didn’t prefer Johnny Mathis, that is where this concert breathes the deepest.

There are some missed bets on the theatrical side by the co-producers with the Rep – the Chicago based Actors Lounge Live, whose co-founder Angela Ingersoll (a noted Stackner performer in the past herself) is listed as both writer and director. The real Nat’s most famous image is letting the audience see his piano fingerwork as he looked over his shoulder at them. At the Stackner, the piano is against the wall at stage left and the keyboard is blocked from view, even though singer McGaha visits it several times.

Most of the concert has him stage center at the mike with the musicians lined up behind him. The lighting work and the staged references don’t compensate.

Today’s Stackner offerings fall into two categories. One is musical tributes to the famous that seek to create a theatrical overlay and an important story. The other is musical tributes that are more like straight concerts. Like this one — fine if you like the music and will settle for it being well done.

While McGaha takes a few turns of his own at the piano, most of the keyboard work is by the talented Chuck Larkin (alternating keyboard and music director duties with William Kurk through Nov. 6). There are other capable musicians on hand – drummer Ryan Bennett, bass player Jeff Hamann and Jesse Montijo who gets to solo on both sax and flute.

All handle the jazz-pop charts niftily and are actually fun to watch – if you are interested as I am with the mechanics of how you switch the bass from plucking to bowing or the drums from brushes to sticks.

McGaha can sing and charm in his own manner, but his baritone is lower, cabaret practiced and more powerful than Cole’s was. The original moved from jazz piano to a haunting almost whispery velvet in which vowels and consonants seemed to wander inside his mouth, picking up speed and romance along the way. McGaha to his credit doesn’t try to pretend to be the old king Cole; he just gives the songs his full baritone’s worth.

Dominique Paul Noth served for decades as film and drama critic, later senior editor for features at the Milwaukee Journal. You’ll find his blog here and here.