Brooklynite Jackie "Divalicious"
Gordon strides up to the microphone on the small stage of the
Laurie Beechman Theatre in Manhattan. After a rousing rendition
of Tommy Wolf’s "Say Cheese," Gordon rips off her white
lab coat. Under the wrap is a Billy Holiday-style brown satin
gown – adorned with yellow satin wedges of cheese.
It’s safe to say, no one wears a fake cheese-covered gown like
Gordon.
The tall, striking, singing chef from Boerum Hill stars in "Say
CHEESE!: A tongue-titillating tasting of artisanal cheeses, wines
and the songs they inspire." Think of it as the most amusing
wine and cheese party you’ll encounter in a lifetime.
In her first one-woman show in the United States, Gordon performs
90-minutes of song and conversation. While she sings, photos
of her charming the rind off a fantasy man made from huge wheels
of cheese flash upon a screen.
During the performance, audience members sample eight international
cheeses from the Artisanal Cheese Center on 37th Street in Manhattan.
The cheese is paired with two red and two white wines from the
Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines Company.
Each of the eight cheeses is presented with a song that illustrates
its history. For example, the Bayley Hazen Bleu Cheese from Jasper
Hill Farms is introduced with "Milk Cow Blues."
"If I Could Date Cheese," "All We Are Saying is
Give Cheese a Chance," and "Don’t You Make my Bleu
Cheese Blue" are sung in Gordon’s smoky, smooth voice.
Audience members are asked to rate each of the cheese-and-wine
pairings, which leads to good-humored banter among those seated
and between the audience and the performer.
Gordon, who has lived in Boerum Hill "foreva," said
she conceived of the show after an epiphany in the cheese department
of Zabar’s, the famous, Upper West Side food emporium. Rows of
creamy goat cheese, called chevre; smelly, succulent bleus with
their blue-veined centers; and sharp, nutty sheep cheeses seemed
to call to her. But which of the hundreds of offerings should
she select?
If someone like Gordon, who says she "majored in restaurants"
after graduating from Brooklyn Technical High School, in Fort
Greene, was bamboozled by the choices, wouldn’t a food novice
in the same situation run screaming back to their Velveeta?,
she wondered. Gordon then conceived of the learn-while-you-eat
performance that would educate the cheese-loving public.
In 2003, she approached Terrance Brennan, founder of the Artisanal
Cheese Center (ACC) in Chelsea with the concept for her song-and-sample
musical. Brennan, who had just opened the doors to the center,
loved the idea and became Gordon’s sponsor for the project, supplying
the cheese for all of Gordon’s performances. (In addition to
his work at ACC, Brennan is the chef and proprietor of two Manhattan
restaurants, Artisanal and Picholine.)
If it seems like a stretch to walk through a food aisle and then
think of turning the experience into a multimedia, song-and-tasting
experience, it isn’t for Gordon. She is an "eatertainer,"
a skilled singer and chef with two successful "eatertaining"
shows to her credit. During a recent phone conversation, Gordon
told GO Brooklyn how her unique style of entertainment evolved.
In 1991, she left Boerum Hill and moved to Melbourne, Australia,
with a friend. Gordon’s first one-woman performance, "Black
Pearls and Strange Fruit," was a huge hit, she said, in
the 1998 Fringe Festival of the Arts in Australia, a performance
venue featuring avant-garde acts. "Black Pearls" told
the history of black women singers and their struggle for racial
equality.
Of that performance Gordon said, "Black American food came
through in every story."
Her second production, which debuted in 1999, "The Fried
Chicken Theory According to Jackie Gordon," was a four-hour
extravaganza that she performed at the Melbourne Food & Wine
Festival. Gordon sang her "History of Soul" music accompanied
by an eight-piece band and 22-member gospel choir. Two kitchens
were erected to produce a 10-course buffet using Gordon’s recipes.
Diners feasted on gumbos, fried chicken, ribs, turnip greens
and macaroni and cheese, followed by six down-home pies including
Gordon’s black bottom banana cream.
Just five days before Sept. 11, 2001, Gordon resettled in Boerum
Hill.
"I was rushing to get home. I just sensed something was
happening and I needed to be in Brooklyn," she says. Since
her return, Gordon has started a quarterly newsletter (information
at www.Divalicious.biz), that offers tips on improving life in
New York.
Looking ahead, Gordon has "something sweet in mind"
after "Say CHEESE!," but wouldn’t elaborate further.
"Say CHEESE!" is an eatertaining opportunity to see
her in action. She is a versatile singer with a rich, velvety
voice, and an appealing stage personality.
The moniker "Divalicious" suits her.
Jackie Gordon’s "Say CHEESE!"
is performed in the Laurie Beechman Theater, 407 West 42nd St.,
Manhattan Plaza, in the downstairs performance area of The West
Bank Cafe, June 9 and 11. Shows start at 7:30 pm; doors open
at 7 pm. The theater is wheelchair accessible with prior notice
by calling The West Bank Cafe management (212) 695-6909. Tickets
are $60 (includes cheese and wine samples) and can be purchased
through www.ticketcentral.com.
