Review: 'Red Hot Mama: The Sophie Tucker Story' at Seven Angels

Pictured: Sharon McNight as Sophie Tucker Photo courtesy of Seven Angels

Waterbury, CT - Sophie Tucker was a singer, comedian, actress, and radio personality known for her brassy, zaftig quality. She worked for nearly 60 years in American entertainment, beginning as a vaudeville headliner and breaking into Broadway theater and film. As a singer, she was known for her powerful delivery of comical and risqué songs, and she was one of the most popular entertainers in America during the first half of the 20th century. A contemporary of Fanny Brice, her recording career began in 1910 with Thomas Edison’s company, making two minute cylinders and ending mid-fifties with “philo-sophie” songs and risqué hits. She became widely known by the nickname "The Last of the Red Hot Mamas". The Ukrainian-born American was raised in Hartford CT and is buried in Wethersfield.

‘Red Hot Mama: The Sophie Tucker Story,’ written, directed and performed by Equity member Sharon McNight, is a musical tribute to the legendary comedian that focuses on her life using music as a guide. Musical arrangements were done by Stan Freeman (who lived in Waterbury) and are performed by an onstage combo. Ms. McNight (‘Starmites’ on Broadway) truly embodies Sophie Tucker in what is essentially a one-woman show that runs at Seven Angels in Waterbury through March 11, 2018.

Semina De Laurentis, the Artistic Director of 7A, has known Ms. McNight since the 1980s, when they were both doing cabaret clubs in Manhattan. They went on to perform in ‘Nunsense,’ with Ms. McNight as Sr. Hubert. In March of this year, Ms. McNight will be honored by the Manhattan Association of Cabarets with a presentation of their Lifetime Achievement Award.

“‘Red Hot Mama’ is the story of a woman - her professional triumphs and personal sacrifices during sixty years of survival in show business.”

What is great about this tribute is the insight that it offers into the woman behind the public persona. She does not hide her Jewish heritage and suggests that audience members who don’t know Yiddish words she uses ask the people who are laughing. There is plenty of risque humor, most pretty tame by today’s standards, but there is also a rehash of her three marriages and other difficult times in her life. She discusses her weight in “I Don’t Want to Get Thin,” but if there was mention of her only child, I missed it.

“Nice Jewish girls don’t go into show business.” - Sophie Tucker to her mother

Ms. McNight looks the part in a great blonde wig and in several wonderfully sparkly dresses and gowns. She was seldom without a white or black square scarf in her hand while on the stage, and Ms. Tucker apparently favored furs and feathers. The scenic design by Daniel Husvar worked for this piece, nicely lit by Scott Andrew Cally.

The songs included in the ninety-minute show include the work of composers Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, the Gershwins and Jack Yellen’s “My Yiddishe Mama.” The ones I recognized were “Ain’t She Sweet” by Yellen and Ager, “The Man I Love” by George & Ira Gershwin, and “Wait ‘Till the Sun Shines, Nellie” by Andrew Sterling and Harry Von Tilzer. At a couple of costume change points, the audience was invited to sing along while lyrics were projected above the musicians; the matinee audience loved it and sounded great. Even those like myself who may not remember much of this performer can appreciate the review of her long career in show business; I got the Arlene Francis joke, I am proud to report.

The three musicians included conductor Brent C. Maudlin in a gray tuxedo with tails on piano, Richard Scarola on upright bass and Mark Ryan on drums, with Kurt Berglund at other performances. The guys had some lines to add to the action and the music director got to sing as well.

Tony Award nominee Sharon McNight (Starmites) stars in a “musical tribute” to the legendary comedienne Sophie Tucker. Tucker, known for singing “Some of These Days”, “After You’ve Gone,” and her so-called “naughty songs” (“There’s Company in the Parlor”, “Girls”, “Come on Down”), became a star known for her brassy, zaftig quality appearing from burlesque to Broadway. ‘Red Hot Mama: The Sophie Tucker Story’ continues at Seven Angels Theatre in Waterbury through March 11, 2018.

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theatre reviews since 2012 as a way to support local theatre venues and she posts reviews of well over 100 productions each year. In 2016, she became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle. She continues to contribute theatre news, previews, and audition notices to local Patch sites. Reviews of all levels of theatrical productions are posted on Naugatuck Patch and the Patch sites closest to the venue. Follow the reviewer on her Facebook pages Nancy Sasso Janis: Theatre Reviewer and Connecticut Theater Previews and on Twitter @nancysjanis417