Beloved singer Porsche gave us one of her first shows of the season, at the Ice Palace, on May 22, assisted by invaluable DJ Chuck McTague. The repertory was varied and the selections, nearly all audience requests.
Porsche began with Bette Midler—a campy “The Showgirl Must Go On”—and continued with Kesha and Pitbull’s “It’s Going Down.” She took advantage of the wide range of Meghan Trainor’s “All about That Bass,” before turning to Country, with Tammy Wynette’s “Your Good Girl’s Gonna Go Bad.” As Billie Holiday, she gave us both upbeat—“Them There Eyes”—and slit-your-wrists blues—“Lover Man (oh, where can you be)?”
Porsche went, without pause, from the light soprano of young Debbie Reynolds—a very romantic “Tammy”—to the earthy Tina Turner—“What’s Love Got to Do with It”—and volcanic earth mother Shirley Bassey—“Diamonds Are Forever.” She followed the tragic Karen Carpenter’s “Superstar” with Adele’s “Skyfall,” with parody lyrics, as “Fireball,” as Eartha Kitt, Tina Turner, Judy Garland, and Bette Davis might have done it.
Representing Janis Joplin, a Porsche specialty, were contrasting songs “Mercedes Benz,” a cappella, of course, with the audience providing the beat; her Big Brother and the Holding Company “Down on Me;” and “Me and Bobby McGee,” “her only number one” hit, Porsche ruefully pointed out.
Winding down, Porsche honored a request for “Seasons of Love,” from “Rent,” which became something of a sing-along. And she closed with a proud “This Is Me,” a new addition to her repertory, from “The Greatest Showman.”