Budd Needs to Find Own Voice

The rap on singer Julie Budd, even during her high visibility in the ‘70s and ‘80s, was that she was a Streisand clone. And on Tuesday, the opening night of a two-week run at the Cinegrill, the similarities were still front and center.

There is, of course, nothing wrong with being influenced by a powerful artist. And on the plus side, Budd, like Streisand, is a superior singer with a gorgeous sound and far-reaching vocal versatility. Problems arise, however, when the influence becomes a determinant of style, and Budd--in manner, look, dialect and musical interpretation--is still far too locked into the Streisand orbit.

Granting the too-close connection, Budd is an attractive enough performer to produce an appealing evening of music. But for her opening-night set, her surprisingly brief program sounded prepackaged in the extreme. With rare exceptions, her tunes, her between-songs patter and even her sole special material number seemed to lock her into an interpretive cage. And that was a shame, because on at least one song--”Blame It on My Youth”--there was more than a whisper of what Budd might do if she ever decided to spread her own wings and fly freely.

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* Julie Budd at the Cinegrill, Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, 7000 Hollywood Blvd. Through Nov. 1 (dark Sunday and Monday), 8 p.m. Additional 10:30 p.m. show on Fridays and Saturdays. $20 and two-drink minimum. (213) 466-7000.