Past Reviews

Regional Reviews: San Francisco/North Bay


Darlene Popovic: Weapons of Mass Distraction
Feinstein's at the Nikko
Review by Richard Connema | Season Schedule

Also see Richard's review of The Lion King

The imitable singer, comedian, raconteur and actress Darlene Popovic made her debut in a one-night show at Feinstein's at the Nikko this month. The presidential election was the theme of the 60-minute gig, aptly called Weapons of Mass Distraction. Popovic's weapons were Kander & Ebb, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, and Cole Porter. The show showed us the craziness of this election through 19 songs.

Popovic opened with "Laughing Matters" from When Pigs Fly and segued into Andrew Lloyd Webber's "As If We Never Said Goodbye" from Sunset Boulevard with new lyrics, then Irving Berlin's "The Secret Service" from Mr. President. The artist was hilarious when singing "You Gotta have Skin" to the tune of Richard Adler and Jerry Ross' "You Gotta Have Heart" to Donald Trump's wig. There were satirical lyrics for the tune made famous by Fanny Brice, "Sadie Salome Go Home." She excelled on the novelty songs "Have a Little Drinkee" and "Whatcha Ma Call It."

Ms. Popovic did a rousing version of "Chief Cook and Bottle Washer" from Kander and Ebb's The Rink and a stimulating version of "Vodka" from Song of the Flame in honor of the Russian hacking of computers during the election season.

She puckered up when singing to Donald Trump to the tune of "I Wish You Love," giving out the raspberries in place of "Love." She also paid tribute to Donald Trump's daughter when singing in country-western style, "My Heart Belongs to Pappy" with special lyrics by Tom Orr. She even found Hillary's lost emails. She also sang in Serbo-Croatian "New York, New York" in honor of her grandmother.

Tom Orr was the guest star for the show. He wrote special lyrics for "Witchcraft" about the goings on of celebrities like the Kardashians. Joe Wicht agreeably accompanied on piano and he joined in with his vibrant voice on the Adler/Ross song "Two Lost Souls."

Darlene Popovic played Feinstein's at the Nikko on November 2nd, 2016. For the complete line up at Feinstein's at the Nikko go to www.fiensteinsathotelnikko.com.