Marcovicci Sings the Praises of Romance

R omance is a word that comes easily to mind in the presence of Andrea Marcovicci. Her fragile, cameo-like beauty recalls the luminous cinematic imagery of such performers as Vivian Leigh, Joan Fontaine and Merle Oberon.

The singer/actress, who is appearing at the Gardenia Club, welcomes the identification, but with certain pragmatic qualifications.

“Ah, romance . . . yes!” Marcovicci said in an interview. “That’s exactly what my singing is all about. But real romance, not the movie kind. I think, I hope, that people leave my shows with the feeling that they can find romance right next to them--in their own husband, their own mate, or in someone who’s been a good friend.

“Most of all, I want to help people think romantically again, so they can search for romance somewhere close to themselves and not get caught up with unrealistic visions that can never come true.”

With a repertoire of more than 250 pieces (“and those are just the ones ready to go right now--tonight; give me a day to rehearse with my pianist, Glenn Mehrbach, and I’ll add another 20 or 30”), Marcovicci is focusing her current performance on the romantic effects of movie songs.

Typically, she described her act with a touch of gentle whimsy: “The official title of my show is ‘Movie Night: Marcovicci Sings Movies and Other Love Songs.’

“But the real title,” she said with a giggle, “the real subtext is ‘Songs From Movies That Were So Hopelessly Romantic That They Led Us to Believe That Love and Romance Were Something Very Different From What We Might Be Experiencing in Real Life and as a Result We Tend to Ignore What’s Directly Under Our Noses and Continue to Search Endlessly After Mr. or Ms. Right Even Though We’re Deep Into Our 30s and Beyond.’ ”

Better known as an actress, with a long resume of credits in television (“Cry Rape,” “Love Is a Many Splendored Thing,” “Berrenger’s,” “Trapper John, MD,” “Hill Street Blues,” “Taxi”), films (“The Front,” “Someone to Love”) and theater (“Chaplin,” “Ghetto,” “Nefertiti”), Marcovicci has considered herself a singer, as well, for most of her life.

“Singing has always been my first priority,” she said. “I’m sure it traces back to my mother, who was a torch singer in the ‘40s, working at places like the Maisonette Room in New York City.

“Not only that, but my father was 63 when I was born, so I literally grew up listening to the music of an earlier era. I mean, can you imagine a 14-year-old kid walking to school trying to sing Edith Piaf songs? That was me.”

Marcovicci returned to music several years ago when Gardenia owner Tom Rolla asked her to do a regular show at midnight on Saturdays. She agreed, somewhat reluctantly at first, but soon came to rely on what quickly became SRO performances for the pure moments of creative clarity they provided in the midst of her hectic acting career.

More recently, she has followed in the path of such friends and fellow performers as Karen Akers and Michael Feinstein on a cabaret circuit that includes the Plush Room in San Francisco, New York’s Hotel Algonquin Oak Room and Chicago’s Gold Star Sardine Bar.

Like Akers and Feinstein, she thinks that the song and the story it tells are everything.

“I’m not a stylist,” she said with a laugh. “There isn’t a riff in my throat. I sing almost all my songs through only once. I don’t go back to a chorus, to a musical break and a modulation and so forth. That’s not what I do.

“I feel the way I believe Piaf did. Once the story’s been told, the story’s been told. To my mind, there’s a kind of purity to a song that needs to be followed through from start to finish, and that’s what I do.”

And best of all, for Marcovicci, is when the story is told with all its romantic implications.

“My greatest compliment at the end of a night,” she said, “is not when someone comes to tell me what a great singer I am. What really means something to me is when someone comes up--as they often do--and says, ‘I fell in love with my husband again tonight.’

“When that happens, I feel as though I’m doing what I’m here to do.”

Marcovicci continues at the Gardenia Club through Saturday.