Review: Signature Theatre’s "Get Down Tonight" Delivers Classic Funk

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Small ensemble brings big sounds of James Brown, George Clinton and more.

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The words Funk and Cabaret are hardly ever heard together in the same sentence. But Signature Theatre has developed a number of entertaining cabaret shows over the years covering soul and Motown over the years, so it’s a relatively easy move for them to slip into the realm of funk as well.

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The current production ,“Get Down Tonight: Classic Funk,” is a engaging array of familiar songs from the 60s and 70s that didn’t have any trouble getting people to clap along, and a few to eventually get up and groove.

It was smart to begin with the newest songs on the roster — Rick James ’ 1981 “Give It to Me Baby” and its insistence to “give me that stuff, that funk, that sweet, that funky stuff,” going right into Prince’s sassy 1986 “Kiss.”

Though it has more to do with disco than funk, they pretty much had to do KC and the Sunshine Band’s “Get Down Tonight” because it provided the title of the show. And only then could they delve into the real source material: The Godfather of Soul, James Brown , with “Get Up (I Feel Like Being) a Sex Machine” and “I Got You (I Feel Good).”

The vocals all came from an amiable pair, Isaac “Deacon Izzy” Bell and Shayla S. Simmons , who was once part of the nationally touring “Super Freak: The Rick James Story,” a qualifier if there was ever one.

Bell entered the stage with a gold-tipped cane, apologizing for just arriving at the theater. As such he had to set up his iPad with the setlist and put on a big, shiny square ring that was either a fitness tracker or just pure bling (either one would fit).

Simmons, glamorous in her suit, had, like Bell, had the kind of smooth voice that shines in musical theater, but one that doesn’t always have the grit that distinguishes funk from sweeter soul.

The on-stage backing band, however, hit the target solidly, led by music director Deante Haggerty-Willis on guitar and featuring a monster bassist in Sonny Wilde, rightfully front and center, some righteous drums from Stan Banks and a font of funk on keyboards, Charlie Keys, who had a lot of responsibility in this case. That’s because a lot of the funk they did was highlighted by big horn sections, which he pretty much had to reproduce single-handedly, not to mention the sliding synth sounds of funky 70s keyboards.

They were featured in a single instrumental, the Meters’ classic “Cissy Strut.”

Creators of the show (Mark C. Meadows is director of Signature cabarets) did a good job both researching the topinc and amassing a setlist that includes both Aretha Franklin and Chaka Khan , as well as Stevie Wonder , George Clinton , Sly & the Family Stone, and Earth, Wind and Fire.

A highlight came when they cleverly demonstrated how funky songs of the past have provided the basis for more contemporary hip-hop, by performing Zapp’s 1980 “Be Alright” and then going right into its use as the backing track for 2Pac’s “Keep Ya Head Up” in 1993. Deacon Izzy can rap.

It was no surprise that they tried to get people up to dance (though a few were already exuberantly doing so). But it was odd that they brought out hula hoops for people to try (mostly miserably), awarding a prize to the least bad. (The connection of hula hoops to funk or even disco remains elusive).

But people were having fun.

Having Simmons sing “Brick House” in a Commodores medley removed some of the creepiness of its verses celebrating women’s measurements. But she showed how much younger she was than the material by missing the end of “Shining Star” or swallowing the funniest line in Prince’s “Kiss”: “Act your age, not your shoe size.”

“Boogie Oogie Oogie” would seem at first an unlikely inclusion — until they got to Wilde’s bass solo.

One thing that was tough to do for them all night was trying to explain exactly what funk is, though they certainly tried. It was best when they let the funky music itself demonstrate.

Running time : 75 minutes, no intermission.

“Get Down Tonight: Classic Funk” runs through May 17 at Signature Theatre’s ARK, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington. Tickets online .

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/washington-dc/article/Review-GET-DOWN-TONIGHT-CLASSIC-FUNK-at-Signature-Theatre-20260509)._