Salute to the Legends

Reviewed by Holly Bartges

Along with the successful open-ended run of Menopause on the Main Stage, The New Denver Civic Theatre transformed the small Dorie Theatre into a stunning Black Box Cabaret. Rich red flowing curtains stand out in contrast to the black walls with tables for 135. Turning the Dorie into a cabaret is a brilliant move on the part of the Denver Civic.

Sheryl Renee showcases her talents at the Dorie Theatre at the New Denver Civic Theatre.

To celebrate, the Civic booked award-winning singer/actress Sheryl Renee to inaugurate the Black Box Cabaret for an open-ended run. Renee and her band: Tim Greenhouse (keyboards), Skippy D Lynch (drums and vocal), Marc Larson (guitar and vocals), and Frank Baier (bass and vocals) will perform her Salute to the Legends Sunday nights at 7:30 PM.

On her opening night, April 3 Renee saluted Motown.

In the middle of her show, Renee indicated her legend salute was a work in progress, even though she has been performing around Denver for the past two years. Even as people marveled over the Black Box transformation, a Civic employee mentioned it wasn’t quite finished.

Saluting 12 legends of Motown beginning with Smokey Robinson, moving through Diana Ross and The Supremes, to the Jackson Five, to Marvin Gay, the Four Tops, The Temptations, and Stevie Wonder, the major theme song throughout the evening was Not Yet Finished.

Drums and hard guitar chords frequently drowned out Renee’s huge melodic voice. Loud music filled every nook and cranny of the Black Box, but it wasn’t the loudness that shot pain through my ears. It was the lack of blending on the sound system.

To expand her audience, Renee needs to know not everyone is a Motown Fan, and not everyone knows the Motown music. Yes, the giant artists who emerged are well known. Some of us grew up on rock and the folk songs of the 60s. For some of us Motown was something to fill in the cracks, at the same time admiring the majestic legends of Motown. Legends or no, for some of us they weren’t first choice. In between songs, she often mentioned, “you remember this one” and she would begin singing without giving a title. The song itself may have a familiar ring, but the title unknown.

With the hammering of the drums and guitar, only a professional sense of ethics kept me from leaving to escape the pain. A great deal of the melody lost out to the hammering, noise and lack of balance on the sound.

No question, these are artists, and Renee carries more talent in her little finger than a slew of other songbirds, but the finesse was lost. Finesse she has. She only needs to cover her show in it.

Portraits of the Motown Legends by artist Robert Evans surrounded the stage, and he is indeed a remarkable talent with the brush. As Renee’s tribute to the legends continue, hopefully, the portraits hanging on stage will find a place to remain somewhere in or around the theatre.

Renee continues her tribute April 10 where she will feature Nat King Cole, Natalie Cole and the Jackson Five, April 17 will be Barry Manilow, Barbara Streisand, and Stephanie Mills, April 24 will be Sarah Vaughn, Etta James and Tina Turner.

Hopefully, between now and then Renee, her band, and the Denver Civic will refine the sound to blend her gigantic voice, the guitar, bass, keyboards, and drums so each can be heard for their distinctive contribution. Let the music be as loud as it wants, but there is the wanting to hear her voice along with the keyboard, rather than muffled words and watching someone tickle the ivories with no evidence.

Underneath the blaring hammering, Renee has a show worth experiencing, aside from the giggles, flagging nervousness. Renee has nothing to be nervous about. She has a show to be proud of, just as long as she doesn’t assume Motown was the “End All Be All.” I wanted to hear the melody, the beat, the songs, but the blaring; out of kilter sound system provided an invisible shield preventing that to happen.