KIKI & HERB SLEIGH AT BAM
These two characters, Kiki &Herb are beloved by fans of Bond and Mellman all over the world. They stopped performing for almost a decade and now are back delighting their followers who never forgot them and are thrilled to have them back. The enormous energy is not only on stage but in the audience who are riveted at every turn, every song and every gesture made by Kiki and Herb during the entire evening.
Not a dull moment from the beginning to the end. When Mr. Mellman walked in with his glittering jacket and take a seat at the piano singing lyrics of Billy Joel's "Miami 2017 (Seen the lights Go Out on Broadway) and then Kiki, the singer enters and the howls of excitement welcome her. She sings with a meldious voice, move around on stage like a wounded tigress and sings and drink her heart out.
In between the singing Kiki sits on a high chair, have a table next to her with a bucket full of ice and a big bottle of booze of some kind and tell us amazingly funny stories about the birth of Jesus Christ, how as a child she was taken to an institution where she meets an other toddler, Herb and they practice music in a padded room. Kiki tells us that she is in her 90's and had met everyone important on this palnet, including Sylvia Plath who had the habbit of putting her head in the oven and one day there was no one around and it was too late. Then Kiki gets up and sing many songs, the most effective was, "Crucify, " by Tori Amos, Kiss's "I was made for loving you, " Radiohead's "Creep" and "Jesus Loves MeThis I Know." My very favorite song Kiki sang towards the very end, "Send In The Clowns." by Stephen Sondheim. At one point Kiki looks at the audience with great affection and says, "If I could love I would love all of you." This sentence had such pathos of the awareness of suffering and survival which all human go through but the cabaret act is very much about the happiness of approaching Christmas and being able to celebrate together after the most awful year of isolation. There is also mention of HIV/AIDS epidemic and World AIDS Day which falls on Dec 1, the day I attended the show.
Bond's Kiki also have great critiques of religion and society, At one poing Kiki raises the question about Immaculate Conception as if Mary was asked for consent or not. No matter what Kiki says can't be annoying at all, actually it's highly amusing and that's because the perfection of their craft together. Mellman and Bond have been performing for a long time and their style, their emotions, their singing is priceless even when Kiki drops the mike and an audience member comes on stage and picks it up for her because she is supposed to be more tha 90 years old and can't bend down so easily. Hillarious and intelligent with incredible wit and sophistication. Their stories seem more real than any real story I have been told. There is courage, conviction, honesty and talent involved. Lots of talent. Bravo.
Reviewed by Bina Sharif
for, artsinternational.blogspot.com
BINA SHARIF: EDITOR, FOUNDER OF artsinternational.blogspot.com
Member of American Theater Critics Association, (ATCA)
email: binashariff@gmail.com
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