REX REED -
5/29/2006 edition of The New York Observer
Finally, it is with great regret that space limitations in last week’s issue forced my review of the delectable Broadway soprano Rebecca Luker onto the editing-room floor. At Feinstein’s at the Regency, she was both fabulous to hear and lovely to look at, like the frisky blondes in the old Busby Berkeley movies. ...Never resorting to noisy belting to get your attention, this Alabama-born Scarlett O’Hara knows the value of trusting a lyric and letting the songs work for her, and she’s an accomplished actress too. Which explains the depth she pours into a profound new tune entitled “Lovely Lies,” about Southern belles raised on church hymns and pecan pie, with no preparation for
independent thinking or real life on the other side of the plantation. Playing Magnolia on a big Broadway stage in Show Boat or dreamily crooning a sexy tune in the intimacy of a hotel cabaret, Rebecca Luker turns songs into three-act plays and makes the center spot burn brighter. I hope she comes back soon.