BWW Review: Celebrity Series of Boston Presents AN EVENING WITH CHRISTINE EBERSOLE

The other personal disclosure involved the singer's ninety-five year old mother ("she gave birth to me when she was sixty!") who lives with them in Maplewood, New Jersey. Ebersole credits her mother with teaching her as a child to sing from the Methodist hymnal and they sometimes sit at the piano and relive those moments. With the most simple and beautiful vocal, she shared "How Can I Keep From Singing" with only piano accompaniment. At that point, it was fitting for her to close with "Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries," aptly recommending to "live and laugh at it all."

Cue wild, appreciative applause; singer leaves stage; singer returns to stage with the observation, "One of the funny conventions of cabaret - the false exit!" Assuring us that she would never just leave like that, Ebersole sang a tribute to another great cabaret artist, Eartha Kitt ("Mink, Schmink"), and she invited the audience to join in on her definite final number, the pop standard (introduced by Frank Sinatra in 1953) "Young at Heart." She may have been told she was over the hill in Hollywood, but her career has flourished since she moved to Maplewood ("What a difference a leaf makes!"). She certainly convinced everyone in the 1,166 seat theatre that the secret to eternal youth is right inside your heart.

Photo credit: Christine Ebersole (courtesy of Celebrity Series of Boston)

From producing and starring in family holiday pageants as a child, to avid member of Broadway Across America and Show of the Month Club, Nancy has cultivated her love of the art and respect for the craft of theatre. She fulfilled a dream when she became an adult-onset tap dancer in the early 90's ("Gotta dance!"); she fulfills another by providing reviews for BroadwayWorld.com and evolving as a freelance writer. Nancy is an alumna of Syracuse University and a retired Probation Officer-in-Charge in the Massachusetts Trial Court system.

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