Review by Ron Fassler . . .
“I’m booked and blessed,” shouted Stephanie Pope in a joyous moment during her autobiographical show at 54 Below Tuesday night. Having taken a self-imposed sabbatical from show business that lasted a decade, Pope was in fine form during her 70-minute set as befits a veteran of eleven Broadway musicals. Once a dancer, always a dancer even if the 54 Below stage has about as much depth and width as a diving board. With a credo of “make the most with what you got,” Pope dazzles with the same effervescence that made her one of the most reliable go-to musical performers between the mid-80s and early 2000s.
Under the watchful eye of Theatre Hall of Famer Ben Vereen, who directed “Livin’ It Up,” Pope’s carefully scripted show offers a good deal about her while never venturing into overshare. Her festive sense of humor matched to her rose-colored glasses optimism is a healthy mixology that creates a cocktail of seemingly endless stories of a life well lived and that is still going strong (her years as a yoga teacher have resulted in her coming close to discovering the long-sought Fountain of Youth serum).
Opening with “As If We Never Said Goodbye” made for a strong choice minus any of the maudlin qualities that are often associated with it, even though Pope made it a point to mention how it had been a long time since stepping out on a cabaret stage. Doubling down on extending her exultant mood, she gave us her show’s title song, Anaïs Mitchel’s “Livin’ It Up” from Hadestown. She then shifted into “Resume Medley” that included snippets from each of the 11 musicals that make up her Broadway career and proved a showstopper. The Playbills for each one flashed on the screen until they created nothing less than a symbol of perseverance, hard work, and—not to be forgotten—elation:
Throughout the evening, Pope returned time and again to her Harlem roots. Her father was born there (her mother was from New Orleans), which in her experience meant she had the best of two worlds. Her rendition of Jerry Leiber and Phil Spector’s “Spanish Harlem” was deeply profound. I mean, just check out these lyrics:
A red rose up in Spanish Harlem
It is a special one, it’s never seen the sun
It only comes out when the moon is on the run
And all the stars are gleaming
It’s growing in the street right up through the concrete
But soft and sweet and dreaming.
It turns out that Pope is also a gifted lyric writer of parody songs. She treated the audience to two of them, both directly related to shows she has been in. First was a cockeyed version of “Not for the Life of Me,” written by Jeanine Tesori and Dick Scanlon for Thoroughly Modern Millie, which was ripped apart and put back together again as “A Whole New Life for Me,” expressing Pope’s feelings about being pregnant with her daughter, Mari. The second, which she cleverly titles “Spider Woman’s Lament,” is all about covering for Chita Rivera in the title role of Kiss of the Spider Woman—and never going on (indestructible Chita, may her memory be a blessing). Pope had the pleasure of starring opposite her in Chicago in which she was cast as Velma—the role Chita created—who was now playing Roxie. As Pope widened her eyes, she expressed the thoughts of everyone in the room of what an experience THAT was!
Late in the show, following a medley of songs about becoming a mother, accompanied by adorable family photos, Mari Caffey took to the stage. A recent graduate only last month of the University of Chicago (“the college, not the musical,” her mother was careful to point out), it also turns out that young Mari has a beautiful singing voice. She sang a solo while mom pridefully looked on. And for the show’s encore, the two joined in a duet, Billy Porter’s “Time,” to the absolute delight of the crowd.
Under the assured musical direction of Ian Herman on the piano, there was also Nygel D. Robinson displaying versatility not only on the bass but singing along from time to time, and David Silliman admirably added a wonderful percussion to the evening. All in all, a perfectly paced show with its own particular rhythm. Appropriate since Pope is one of Broadway’s great dancer-singers and singer-dancers. Catch her if you can the next time she graces a cabaret stage.
“Stephanie Pope: Livin’ It Up” played 54 Below, 254 W 54th Street, NYC, on June 17, 2025. For information on future programming, please visit: www.54Below.org.
Photos by Ron Fassler.
