On Sunday, April 13, the second installation of Klea Blackhurst: The Box Set, named Autumn in New York: Vernon Duke’s Broadway, took place at New York City’s elegant cabaret venue Chelsea Table & Stage.  As soon as she appears on stage and presents her first few notes, it’s clear that actress/singer Klea Blackhurst indeed has enough charisma and stage presence for a multi-volume show.  She kicks off with Not a Care in the World.  The song is perfectly suited to her charisma, sense of humor, and good old-fashioned showbiz “moxie”.  Who could resist lyrics like:

“Though skies are gray, I’m as gay as a Disney cow,
Not a wrinkle upon my brow;
Not a thought in my head,
Not a care in the world!”

In these tense times, we need this particular song now more than ever!  Her second number was the equally catchy You Took Me by Surprise. Again– and, actually, after EVERY one of her songs– I found myself mentally noting the same thing:  All of Klea’s selections were (drumroll please…) perfectly suited to the performer’s engaging persona.  She puts her own lively spin on foot-tappers like the almost painfully delightful Taking a Chance on Love, as well as gems like I Like the Likes of You, surely one of cabaret culture’s most idiosyncratic love songs. Her sense of humor is put to supreme use in songs like I Can’t Get Started or Poor as a Church Mouse.  It made me wonder to myself, Does she know just HOW funny she is?  But aside from all sounding wonderful, all of Blackhurst’s song choices that evening had something ELSE in common: The man behind the music was the composer/songwriter who was born “Vladimir Alexandrovich Dukelsky” in Imperialist Russia. Today, he is remembered as “Vernon Duke”. 

Klea Blackhurst earned major accolades in the press for Everything the Traffic Will Allow, her tribute show to her fellow singer/actress Ethel Merman. The similarities between Merman and the flame-haired Ms. Blackhurst are not hard to pick up; in Klea’s own words, it was “a natural fit”.  It’s obvious that Blackhurst would have no trouble paying homage to Merman’s legendarily raucous, grandiose charms.  Even as we enter the second half of 2025, the woman born Ethel Agnes Zimmerman remains one often most iconic figures in transgenerational cabaret culture– not only because of her unique singing style, but also because of her larger-than-life persona when she WASN’T performing.  In Autumn in New York: Vernon Duke’s Broadway, Blackhurst even throws in an absolutely priceless Ethel Merman anecdote (I won’t give it away, but it involves lipstick and lyrics…).  That said, Ms. Blackhurst has a LOT more to offer than her association with Ethel.  All throughout the night, the audience enjoyed a softness in Blackhurst’s voice as well as an impressively wide, occasionally vulnerable range which Merman, arguably, often chose NOT to give her audience– at least not in her most well-known works. Listen to Klea’s delicious, show-stopping rendition of April in Paris for proof of that impressively wide, occasionally vulnerable range!  And with that, back to Vernon Duke…

Why Vernon Duke?  Blackhurst even notes: “Ethel Merman never had a flop; Vernon Duke never had, ‘Broadway-speaking’, a hit.”  Blackhurst’s decision for a tribute show was inspired in part by the buzz about the 1999 album Dawn Upshaw Sings Vernon Duke.  Even if the younger audience members didn’t recognize the name “Vernon Duke”, anyone who has an appreciation for the Great American Songbook will no doubt know a lot of his works.  Klea shared the fact that Duke’s “most popular, enduring song” was actually written in 20 minutes.  That song would be April in Paris… and, as mentioned above, Ms. Blackhurst gives the eternally beloved song the glory it deserves.  She does the same with Autumn in New York, which has the distinction of having both music and lyrics by Duke.  How appropriate that the weather in “New Yawk” was definitely more “autumn” than spring on this April evening.     

Aside from her musical talents, Blackhurst is also a fine raconteur. She packs a LOT of musical history in between the songs, which is impressive considering the show’s tight hour of performance time. So, the audience gets to hear about Broadway shows which sadly never quite took off, and we also get to hear more trivia about such personalities as Mary Martin, Ethel Waters, Jesse Matthews, Paula Lawrence, and more.  Without hyperbole, it’s truly fascinating. It is often a decision by cabaret performers to dominate their shows with big, wet ballads– presumably because those songs can often best display their singing skills.  It is therefore such a delight that Klea Blackhurst chose a collection of upbeat, high-spirited numbers– right on down to the show’s closing number, Dancing in the Streets.   As with the show’s opener, we need that song’s message now more than ever.   I won’t give away the encore, but I WILL say that it’s a true crowd-pleaser. (Astute audience members may even guess what it will be from hints dropped early on in the show…)   Featuring Musical Direction by Michael Rice, Autumn in New York: Vernon Duke’s Broadway is a four-star show:  But add yet another star if you love Broadway enough to learn even more about it… 

Chelsea Table & Stage presents the return of Klea Blackhurst in “The Box Set,” the second annual edition of her fantastic season-long retrospective of the celebrated theater and concert artist’s acclaimed shows. Presented on Sunday nights at 7:00 PM, the new edition will continue with “A Brand New Evening with Klea Blackhurst” on May 18. After a summer hiatus, the series resumes with “Dreaming of a Song: The Music of Hoagy Carmichael” featuring Billy Stritch, on October 19, and concluding with Blackhurst’smost-requested evening, “Everything the Traffic Will Allow: The Songs and Sass of Ethel Merman,” on November 16. Blackhurst’s “The Box Set” gives Klea’s longtime followers the chance to revisit this outstanding body of work, while also allowing a new generation of theater and music fans to discover them. Tickets to each show are $20-$40, in addition to a service charge and a two-item food and beverage minimum. A livestream option is available for all shows at $20 each. CHELSEA TABLE + STAGE is located at 152 West 26th Street. Tickets are available at www.chelseatableandstage.com/tickets-shows