SUMMARY: Kansas City Star columnist Hearne Christopher Jr. has been writing about local torch singer Marilyn Maye for years. That might be the reason he declined to reveal to readers her age. He now refers to Jardine's as an "intimate Plaza restaurant and nightclub" one week after he took a major tumble there. Incidentally, Maye is 80. 05-04-2008
It�s her birthday, but you get her presence By Hearne Christopher Jr., KC Star Don�t take legendary Kansas City jazz crooner Marilyn Maye for granted � It�s been three long years since Maye last bowled over audiences young and old at the intimate Plaza area restaurant and nightclub Jardine�s with shows reminiscent of her Colony Steak House days in the early 1960s. The fact is, at this stage of Maye�s career, she�s essentially the Kansas City equivalent of Tony Bennett. But don�t take my word for it � �When a legendary singer comes out of retirement and makes a rare appearance in a New York club, the cabaret world suddenly and temporarily comes alive,� writes the New York Observer�s Rex Reed. �It happened a few years ago when Polly Bergen took Feinstein�s at the Regency by storm, generating her own lightning, and audiences didn�t know what hit them. �It happened again last week when the great Marilyn Maye � one of the brightest lights of television, supper clubs and the recording industry in the 1950s � invaded the Apple from her home in Kansas City and conquered the town at the cabaret convention, and in a one-night triumph at a smart, intimate new club in Chelsea called the Metropolitan Room that turned into the �event� of the cabaret season. � There is simply nobody around with more talent, personality and class.� I�ll leave out the rest of the gushy stuff, but you get the picture. Look, you�re more likely to run into me at a Raconteurs, Snow Patrol or Raveonettes concert. That said, there�s no way I will miss three or four of the twice-nightly Maye dinner shows July 14 through 17 at Jardine�s. �It�s going to be fun � this is a very big year for my birthday,� Maye said by phone as the cruise ship she will perform on the next two weeks steamed toward Barcelona, Spain. �My birthday was in April, but I�m celebrating it all year. And the show is called, �It�s My Party (And I�ll Sing Cause I Want To).� I did the show in New York, and Leslie Gore was in the audience. The show has nothing to do with her, it�s just a cute title. I think she saw the title and came because she was curious.� Maye says the show is all about �letting the good times roll and celebration. When people leave, they�ll go out very happy. In New York they screamed and yelled and cheered, so I hope it will be the same in Kansas City.� As for to Maye�s magic number, truth be known, I tracked it down, but I�ll let her unleash the digits: �I�ll tell you when you get there,� she says.
