Critics weigh in on the Rep's Ella

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis opened its production of Ella last weekend, and local critics are offering what seem to be glowing assessments of the musical look at the life story of legendary jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald.

Post-Dispatch theater critic Judith Newmark's review praised actress Tina Fabrique, who plays Ella, saying she "was born for this role. At Friday's opening-night performance at the Rep, you could feel the house falling for her. Maybe that's because she — evidently like Fitzgerald — uninhibitedly loves her audience."

Reviewing the show for radio station KDHX (88.1 FM), Chris Gibson said that Fabrique "delivers a performance worthy of the first lady of song herself. Filled with memorable standards, this is a must-see event for any fan of the Great American Songbook."

Also, here's a brief review from a local blogger named "scoodog" who caught the show during opening weekend, and down at the bottom of this post you'll find a couple of minutes of video from Ella. And readers, if you've seen Ella yourself, or have run across any other reviews of the show, please feel free to use the comments to post your opinions, links, etc.

Ella runs through April 13 on the Mainstage of the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. For tickets or information, call 314-968-4925 or visit www.repstl.org.

UPDATE - 11:00 a.m., 3/27/08: Here's the review of Ella from Riverfront Times theater critic Dennis Brown.



(Edited after posting to fix a couple of mangled sentences.)