Citizen Review: ELLA and The Crystal City Experience

by Bob Poogach

Through the graciousness of incredibly friendly Arena personnel, I had the opportunity to catch the run through of ELLA at the new Arena "Restaged" in Crystal City before its official opening on Friday.  My most important suggestion to the good people at Arena is an addition to their obligatory pre-performance announcements about the do's and don'ts of cell phones and candy wrappers. For this show, "If you can't feel the beat and you aren't tapping your feet, please proceed to the lobby and dial 911."

Tina Fabrique as Ella Fitzgerald IS the show and quite a show she is.  A bandstand stage provides the setting for Ms. Fabrique to showcase her own talents in imitating the style and sound of the First Lady as she delivers a broad range of song standards from the likes of Porter, the Gershwins, and  Berlin. The thin construct of the play has Ella telling her story through between-songs "patter" encouraged by her long-time manager. All well and good but the play is the music and the music is s'wonderful. Hard to pick a personal favorite in this nightclub concert but a sassy A-tisket, A-tasket rendition of Ella's youthful classic highlighted the second act for me.  There are some rough and slow spots that still need to be smoothed out with the backup combo and the dialogue (not sure the homage to Satchmo was necessary), but one can't walk away without being a little lighter, a little happier, and a whole lot impressed with Tina Fabrique's talent.

For anyone worried about the trek to Crystal City while the Arena goes through its renovation, don't be.  We drove and parked a short block and a half away. Street parking is available but not sufficient to handle a full crowd. There's apparently free parking at the Marriott lot around the corner but the better bet is just to take the Metro to the Crystal City stop -- it's right there and a short underground walk away from the theatre. Crystal City can be a deserted place after work hours but the long list of nearby restaurants and hotels and the sanitized brick surroundings makes this temporary home a safe and inviting environment. The theatre itself is arranged in more traditional orchestra seating but the seats and leg room are more than ample for any Redskin or Wizard taking in a show.

One final thought. Upon returning home, I dug out an old cassette of Ella Fitzgerald performing "The Irving Berlin Songbook." Was it live or was it Memorex? Was it Ella or was it Tina? I knew. But the theatre experience blurs those lines. Arena has chosen well with its inaugural "remote" performance.