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Updated: January 12, 2010, 10:04 am	Share    Print    Email

Singer and actress Linda Purl recently performed at The Metropolitan Room in New York City. (Roger Webster)

New York City - Even before Linda Purl sang a note at the Metropolitan Room on January 7, she hi-jacked the capacity crowd wearing a slinky, black, silk-charmeuse, floor length gown by Maggie Norris. Purl is a honey-blonde, all-American beauty. The asymmetrical gown, with Swarovski crystal straps clung to her like paint to canvas revealing a body to rival most 20-year old girls.

For the next hour plus, the television star, concert performer, dancer and Broadway actress thrilled a room that included her former husband Desi Arnaz, Jr., Jamie de Roy, Rex Reed, Ellen Easton, Ron Abel, the aforementioned Maggie Norris, Mary Beth Peil, Deborah Weiner, Keira Naughton who was there with her father James Naughton.

After opening with "The Best Is Yet To Come," Purl confessed to a passion for Broadway musicals and big band music. So, it is no surprise that's what she sang. But, it was like hearing the songs for the first time.

With her silken voice she floated above a driving jazz beat on Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's "Wouldn't it Be Loverly" from "My Fair Lady."

Purl, who grew up in Japan, entertained the audience with a story of her first stage musical. She was cast as Louis Leonowens, an 11 year-old boy, in Rodgers & Hammerstein's "The King and I" at the Toho Imperial Theatre, Tokyo. When she voiced objection to playing a young boy, she was told that she was redressing the wrongs for centuries of women who were traditionally portrayed in Japanese Theater by male actors. Actress that she is, she then regressed to an 11 year-old boy to sing "I Whistle a Happy Tune" in fractured Japanese, which broke-up the room.

Purl was joined on stage by James Naughton for a number.

Midway through the evening, James Naughton joined her on stage for a duet of Gershwin's "Oh, Me, Oh, My" and "A cheerful Little Earful." They were a perfectly matched couple, playing off each other like well-matched tennis players. When the applause died down, Purl said, "Of all the times I sang this song, this is the first time I blushed."

Another highlight was a Peter Matz arrangement of "Knowing When to Leave," by Burt Bacharach and Hal David from "Promises, Promises" (the revival is due at the Broadway Theater on April 25).

Among the evening rich with musical highlights, there were fresh interpretations of "Come Rain or Come Shine," "String of Pearls," "Clear Out of this World" and "I'll Be Seeing You."

It's always a joy when a stunning woman has a sense of humor and Purl has one. She sang a selection of humorous country songs as an homage to Andy Griffith, her TV father on "Matlock," and a musical catalog of all the television films and parts she has played.

No one wanted the evening to end and when it was over, no one wanted to leave. They wanted to talk about the pleasures that they had just enjoyed.