An interminable 65-minute bore, All I Want Is One Night purports to convey the life and louche times of Suzy Solidor, a legendary French cabaret artiste. Written and performed by Jessica Walker, the show is an entry in 59E59 Theaters’ current “Brits Off Broadway” series.
Solidor, who lived from 1900 to 1983, was a singer-actress who rose to prominence during the early 1930s in Paris, where she operated La Vie Parisienne, a smart nightclub. She was also an openly bisexual crossdresser. A boyish-looking blonde charmer, Solidor was publicized as the “most painted woman in the world” by commissioning scores of notable artists such as Man Ray and Jean Cocteau to paint her portrait, which she then exhibited in the club.
During the German occupation of Paris during World War II, Solidor entertained Nazi officers in her establishment, for which she was later branded as a collaborator. She remained active in show business through the 1960s, however, and in her later years ran an antiques shop in a picturesque medieval village perched high above the Riviera.
Obviously, Solidor led quite an interesting existence. It’s a pity that All I Want Is One Night is such a drag.
A smaller theater upstairs at 59E59 has been casually converted into a dusky cabaret space where the audience sits at red-draped round tables. One wall is decorated with several replicas of Solidor portraits. There is also an upright piano, a chaise longue and a rattan peacock chair. The last spot is where Solidor is enthroned in her antiques shop in 1980 as an elderly eccentric who affects naval attire and harasses Giselle, a snippy maid. A crusty soul, Solidor is being painted by a visiting artist for something like the 250th time.
And naturally the old girl begins to tell the visitor the story of her life.
Soon enough, Jessica Walker, the writer-performer for this event, has changed costume to materialize as Suzy Solidor in her 1930s prime, as she flirtatiously vamps around the tables of La Vie Parisienne in a flowing satin evening frock. Dropping biographical bits about her love affairs and career, she now and again warbles a few naughty or seductive songs even as other people sporadically importune into her life: Most prominently are Daisy, a young baroness whom she captivates and then tortures, and Tamara de Lempicka, the celebrated painter who demands payment for a portrait.
It’s not a bad concept for an intimate bio-show with music, but Solidor scarcely flickers to life. Painted in fragments by Walker in wordplay that alternately seems precious or stiff, this portrait of the artist is too impressionistic to be informative or satisfying theater.
Worse than that, Walker’s portrayal does not connect with the woman she attempts to convey. Solidor had one of those husky, lower-register voices driven by a rapid vibrato. Walker possesses a rather sweet, polite soprano that sounds terribly English in its tone even when she sings in German and French. Even were Walker able to better suggest Solidor’s vocal delivery, there is no electricity to her interpretation. And there is little point in digging up a legend if the living interpreter provides a flat-line performance.
Originally produced in England by the Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester in 2016, the show features Rachel Austin and Alexandra Mathie as various people in the story. Musical director Joseph Atkins ably obliges on piano, synthesizer and accordion. Designer Kate Ashton often floods the action in lurid red lighting.
No doubt All I Want Is One Night somehow registered a lot better in England for it to be shipped to our shores. Unfortunately, since the show looks DOA from the get-go here, all I wanted from this One Night was for it to be over.
All I Want Is One Night opened June 14, 2018 at 59e59 and runs through July 1. Tickets and information: 59e59.org
