Kevin Spacey (and Frank Underwood) can sing, all right
It's a strange vision at first: Seeing Kevin Spacey, the embodiment of conniving (House of Cards character) Frank Underwood, the twisted Richard III and your horrible boss, happily sing Frank Sinatra. But that's what the Oscar winner was doing Monday night to benefit his Kevin Spacey Foundation.
He's not a singer, but rather an actor who can carry a decent enough tune, as he's already shown in his Bobby Darin movie Beyond the Sea. Still, seeing the serious actor belt feels like a novelty. At least for the first hour.
Attendees who filled The Harman Center in Washington, D.C., on Monday certainly got what they paid more than $100 for, as Spacey sang All Night Long (that song, and he sang for a lengthy 2½ hours) to support emerging artists. He peppered his songs with Francis Underwood's musings in a Southern accent.
"Good evening, and welcome to an evening to benefit the Francis Underwood Super PAC," Spacey joked, opening the concert. "I do apologize if you were misinformed by the intentions of this occasion," said his alter ego, Underwood.
Spacey and a 40-piece "Kevin Spacey Foundation band" went through all the classics, including Luck Be a Lady, You Make Me Feel So Young, Mr. Bojangles, You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You, I've Got the World on a String and finale Bridge Over Troubled Water. There was also a surprise appearance by an energetic Jeff Goldblum, who played a little piano before joining Spacey for a chaotic rendition of Me And My Shadow. It seemed the teleprompter with the song's lyrics was moving too slowly, so the pair was mumbling and making up words.
Another surprise: Spacey debuted serious harmonica skills on Piano Man.
"I'm gonna do some stuff I've never done," the actor told the crowd. "I didn't know the harmonica four days ago."
The whole time, Spacey seemed to be dealing with feedback issues and a cold.
"Something happened last week that never happens," he said. "I got sick. A little guy visited me in my throat. Little (expletive). I'm trying to hit the high notes for the first time. I (expletive) know it before you do if I don't hit them."
The former stand-up comedian was funny, as he interacted with drunk audience hecklers ("I'm so close to be able to get to you, don't (expletive) mess with me"), did a Bill Clinton impression ("99% of what they do (on House of Cards) is real. The 1% ... you can never get an education bill passed that fast") and cursed a lot ("How many F-bombs did I drop? I lost count").
Spacey did drop the Underwood attitude, revealing to the crowd that he struggled as a kid. He shoplifted and was kicked out of military school before mentor Jack Lemmon helped convince him to become an actor.
After the performance, he told Paste BN, "For me, I'm never far away from the feeling that I had when I was starting out and so many people took me under their wing. So many people believed in me before I showed any promise. Now, to be in a place where I can do the same, it's the greatest feeling in the world."
For Spacey fans, the event made them appreciate the entertainer even more: Here's a big- and small-screen star who takes extra time in his already 14-hour workdays (he's shooting Season 3 of House of Cards now) to raise money for work grants and scholarships in the arts through the Kevin Spacey Foundation.
One self-described "huge fan" in attendance, MSNBC broadcaster Andrea Mitchell, thinks Spacey's philanthropic work is important. "I love what he's doing for young artists, dancers actors, musicians, filmmakers," she says, a former violinist, herself. "The fact is that when young people have this kind of support it really makes a huge difference."
Spacey, who hosts 3½-hour acting workshops, says he wants to help "that shy one in the corner who wants to get involved, but you can see in their eyes they're terrified. That's the person I want to ... discover something about themselves they didn't know. That was me. I was that shy kid."