Pop Music Reviews : Pia Zadora Goes for the Grand Gesture

Adorable Pia Zadora is back again. Sleek and trim in a pink Bob Mackie gown, her hair superbly coiffed, her smile radiant, she took the stage at the Westwood Playhouse on Wednesday looking like the very image of a perfectly packaged performer.

Zadora’s repertoire doesn’t change much from year to year. Once again, her program was rich with standards, and she sang them with the deceptively--for such a tiny singer--big-voiced, belting style that has become her stock in trade. An occasional moment in which she took a softer, more tender approach (a medley of “End of a Love Affair” and “How About Me?” was the best example) suggested a depth of interpretation that was not always apparent in her other songs.

But Zadora’s insistence upon bringing Vincent Falcone’s 22-piece orchestra (along with two keyboardists who provided the sampled sounds of a full string section) into the relatively intimate confines of the Playhouse made it apparent that she prefers to make a grand gesture with her music.

Her choice of inspirational material like “For Once in My Life” and “Maybe This Time”--especially when they were orchestrated to allow big, tear-wrenching climaxes--seemed the ideal choice for a performer whose between-songs chatter about her various homes sometimes sounded like a script reading for “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.”Still, there’s no doubt that Zadora does what she does extremely well.

Her opening night outing (she continues through Sunday), despite its occasionally overstated moments, made a determined effort to be warm and communicative. As always, Zadora sang with the enthusiasm and skill of a solid professional, working hard to share with her audience the pleasures she so clearly experiences in her performances.