Singing Cyndi Lauper: 54 Just Wants to Have Fun

The year was 1984: It was tantamount to none and it was the year of living dangerously.

By now, Michael Jackson, no longer in the shadow of his famous siblings, was now an international "crossover" superhero whose solo album "Thriller" set the Grammy's record for most wins in a single night and would become recognized as the best-selling album of all time.

British boy band Duran Duran's cinematic approach to kitsch dominated MTV airwaves with chart-topping hits "Hungry Like The Wolf," "Girls On Film" and "Rio." Prince and The Revolution, the guitar-slinging New Wave funk-rock anomaly, would release the multiple award-winning rock musical drama "Purple Rain" and its supporting multiplatinum soundtrack to critical acclaim.

Madonna at this point in time, was a fledging post-disco starlet who had began to take over the world as she claimed she would through her leather and lace fashion and through her defining magic moment of "Like A Virgin." Most importantly, Cyndi Lauper's synthpop opus "She's So Unusual," which was released in the fall of '83, was now on top of the charts.

Flash-forward to 2014, and that album was re-released to commemorate its 30th anniversary. Lauper also found recent success when her tenth album "Memphis Blues" became Billboard's most successful Blues album of 2010, where it remained at #1 on the Billboard Blues Albums chart for 13 consecutive weeks; and last year, Lauper won the Tony Award for Best Score for the Broadway musical "Kinky Boots," where she became the first woman in history to win the composing category solo.

She emerged victorious; Lauper become the first artist in over 25 years to top the dance charts with a Broadway single, was granted her second Grammy award (ever!) for Best Musical Theater Album and was listed as one of the premier women in rock music on several lists.

Noting her illustrious career and musical legacy, the denizens at 54 Below, the posh cabaret haven where Broadway barflies unite, decided to give it a go and honor the singer with the fluorescent charisma and confection punk-infused radio ditties. But while there was a fair share of octave-obscuring roof-raising belts, not many could match the spinto soprano that All Music's Lindsay Planer described as "an iconoclastic vocalist who revolutionized the role of women in Rock 'n Roll during the 1980s."

The top of the show sucker-punched any speculation that this was going to be an Ambien and whiskey kind of affair with the electro-rock sting of 1997's womanist anthem "Sisters of Avalon." Brian Charles Rooney ("The Threepenny Opera," "Bedbugs! The Musical"), a true aficionado of the blue-eyed soul punk rocker, worked every angle he could: Donning a cherry red tutu, glitter and mousse in his coiffed hair, bejeweled limbs sparkling. The singer even simulated the diva's hushed, childlike murmur and Valkyrie roars, but he didn't seem to adhere to the message of the song by connecting and creating any real chemistry or alliance with his all-female backup.

The same could be said of Becca Ayers ("Les Miserables," "South Pacific," "The Addams Family"), a Broadway vet who worked the crowd like her finger would her laptop if she were queuing her Netflix account. Appearing bored, listless and ambivalent, the singer-actress strummed along to tunes that were forgotten as soon the last notes hit.

Jazz vocalist Gabrielle Stravelli, who was dressed more like Garland or LuPone and sounded like an earth mama Streisand, fared better. Her sensational stripped down and acoustic-driven rendition of "Time After Time" had the lake affect of a big chill, sending goosebumps throughout a mute audience. Not an entertainer, Stravelli showcased her vocals with surprising depth and restraint, her dark 'n stormy mezzo heightening the subtext of the songs.

However, with the "Red Hot" art exhibition appearing on both sides of the Atlantic and making headlines this year, it appeared that 54 Below had planned to make an allusion to it, because this concert was in favor of the gingers.

Cabaret star Molly Pope ("Found") dazzled in a "Scarlet Letter"-themed interpretation of Lauper's signature "Girls Just Want To Have Fun." Donning a makeshift habit and a colossal "A" on her neck, the performance piece - underscored with the opening credit sequence of NBC's "Law & Order" underscoring beneath -- continued the contralto's trend to fan the fire of her creative powers.

While Grace McLean ("Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812," "Bedbugs! The Musical"), an upcoming dynamo in her own right, wowed some with her signature call-and-response vocal acrobatics in an agitprop-esque tribute to Lauper, the Spice Girls (and Christmas songs?), the fun and festive lady with the Blues-infused pipes was explosive with the 1984 promo single, "I'll Kiss You." Given a tinge of Alanis Morrisette's sonic blast, McLean's take on the song was fresh and added an iGeneration-flavored look at love that would work on the radio today. It didn't hurt that the zany chanteuse ended the song with a marathon kiss-off with the crowd, pecking audience members before belting out a final note.

Nevertheless, if Arthur Miller were a lover of late night cabaret and still around today, he'd probably say that attention must be paid to the incomparable Annie Golden. Golden, for lack of a better phrase, has always been an embarrassment of riches in terms of stage presence or sheer vocal power. Anyone who had the opportunity to see her performance as Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme in Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman's "Assassins" during its original run, or the original run of "Hair," could attest to that.

For a younger generation, her mousy appearance in the cult hit "Orange Is The New Black" or show-stopping performance in "Violet" opposite Sutton Foster last year have all garnered acclaim. But like Lauper, an ingenious pop icon whose body of work for years went unrealized, Golden is in many ways an outsider. So, it made sense that she would connect to the heart and soul of the songs, which many of the night's performances were lacking: heart and soul.

While her frequent collaborator Joe Iconis and his "family" played folksy bluegrass versions of cult favorites like "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough" (a song Lauper has stated she loathed on numerous occasions), they fell flat, lacking the drive or yearning and instead, settling for camp. Coming from a background of rock and sharing similar influences by black artists (none of which were on the roster), the Broadway vet tapped into the underbelly of Lauper's music. Golden's astral-bodied vocals on songs such as Lauper's interstellar pop single "All Through The Night" and the exquisite "True Colors" landed a K.O. on an otherwise spiritless night.

"Singing Cyndi Lauper: 54 Just Wants to Have Fun" played on Dec. 14 at 54 Below, 254 W 54th Street in New York. For tickets or information, call 646-476-3551 or visit www.54below.com/