Lucie Arnaz: Dynamic entertainer sparkles at The Rrazz Room

   Lucie Arnaz, shadowed by bassist Daniel Fabricant.  (Photo: Pat Johnson Photography)

Lucie Arnaz is indeed the daughter of iconic parents, but in a powerhouse performance of song and pure showbiz savvy at The Rrazz Room this week she proves to San Francisco what other audiences have long known: She is her own very outstanding person and a top-tier entertainer.

Opening big, she shimmies her way to the stage in a silver slip dress offset by  sparkly accents and announces that "Lulu's Back In Town." Indeed, Lu - as she's known to intimates - has made a few Bay Area appearances over the last decade, but only in emsemble-cast benefit concerts. (She also toured through town in the play Social Security.)

This time it's all Lucie, all music, all evening and your couldn't ask for more. Fabulously backed by her long-time collaborator and music director, the composer Ron Abel, who also created almost all of the evenings diverse and supremely satisfying arrangements, Arnaz is superbly confident as she launches into a wide ranging program that touches the key points of her life.

A swinging medley of "I'm Beginning To See The Light" and "Moonglow" gives way to a very clever parody of "Liza With A Z" that comically clears the air on all the inevitable Mom and Dad questions that arise wherever she goes. The one non-Abel arrangement of the night follows in a Billy Stritch combo of Cole Porter's "It's Alright with Me" from Can-Can and the Johnny Mercer standard "Something's Gotta Give" that keeps Arnaz in graceful, perpetual motion - all lithe arms and slender legs moving to an irresistable beat.

"Slow Dancing" is one of several rich Ron Abel originals, with lyrics by partner Chuck Steffan, that Arnaz puts across like a standard you feel you've known all you life. The song is crisp and clean, with a spare, elegant frame, much like Arnaz herself. She then slips in a piece of her own songwriting - what she calls "a jazz revenge song" - that provides an absolutely brilliant segue to touch her biggest Broadway success. It's give her fans something expected but in a delightfully unexpected way and serves as the perfect antidote to the ubiquitous "And then I starred in..." comments that usually pepper a solo performance by an artist with credits in many mediums.

Craig Carnelia's "Just A Housewife" from the musical Working is a powerfully theatrical, if just a bit bombastic moment, but it is leavened by a light-hearted trio of "instrument songs" that most cleverly allows Abel, Daniel Fabricant - the bestest bassist in the Bay Area - and drummer Julie Jacobs to shine, and without the often interminable instrumental solo spots that can bog down a nightclub act.

The heart of the show, literally and emotionally, comes when Lucie 'splains some about her father Desi Arnaz and how his music influenced her life. Mixed with the reminiscences are numbers that would do a Cuban band leader father proud, from Irvin Berlin's coyly alliterative "I'll See You In C-U-B-A" to a stage-rocking "Cumbanchero" that wants you on your feet and in a conga line.

"Anything is better with a Latin beat," Arnaz suggests and then delivers the proof with a softly rhythmic take on the girl-group tuner "Johnny Angel." She also offers a kicky "Blame It On The Bossa Nova" with a new third verse written especially for her by original author Cynthia Weil. Several of these numbers will appear on her new CD - her first in over a decade - to be release in early 2010.

As the evening draws to a close Lucie comes home, offering a literal tip of the hat to Dad and even managing a musical salute to Mom who, though revered for many things, was never a great singer. In a charming and inspirational arrangement by Abel, Lucie offers that marching-band staple "Hey! Look Me Over" from Wildcat (Lucille Ball's one and only Broadway musical) as a touching anthem for survival, poignant in these challenging times.

There are four more nights to love Lucie. Take yourself and all your friends out to an early holiday treat from a performer who gives you all the gifts she's got and leaves you wanting even more, and that's in the best possible way. They'll thank you for it!