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Count Your Blessings: A Tribute To Rosemary Clooney

"Ms. Simmonss stage experience is obvious in nearly every moment of this remarkable mix of cabaret, biography, and musical theatre that recounts the ups and downs of the famed singer's often troubled life with a canny combination of song and story. It looks as polished and professional as it sounds, and it sounds awfully fine.
I know a good show when I see one, and 'Count Your Blessings' is, by any standard you can name, a good show. The mix of songs includes plenty of Clooneys hits along with some less familiar titles, the balance of music and biography is right, and the presentation is first-rate.

The overall look and sound is that of a high-end nightclubvery appropriate for the subject at hand.

As Ms. Simmons points out early in the evening, her show is not an exercise in celebrity impersonation. When she sings Clooney hits like 'This Will Be My Shining Hour', 'Half As Much', or 'You Make Me Feel So Young', shes giving you her interpretations, not a reproduction of Clooneys. There is a riveting section in the second act in which she takes on the role of Clooney to dramatize the singers famous mental meltdown following Robert Kennedys assassination, but thats clearly established as a set piece that departs from the norm. For the rest of the show, Rosemary Clooneys songs are used to tell the story of Rosemary Clooneys life, assisted with excerpts from the singers sometimes painfully honest autobiography.

And the performances of those songs couldnt be better. Ms. Simmons has a well-trained voice that can belt or purr as needed, so shes equally at home up-tempo numbers like 'It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing' and downbeat ballads like Billy Strayhorns unsettling 'Lush Life'. Her backup band is tight and the vocal/instrumental balance is excellent.

I found 'Count Your Blessings' to be a consistently entertaining... For fans of the late singer, I expect its a little bit of heaven. For the rest of us, its just a darned fine bit of musical theatre."

...Remarks excerpted from Chuck Lavazzi's review for KDHX