I was utterly delighted by Cheryl Ann Allen’s “Sophie Tucker In Person” at the Players Theater on October 23. Written and directed by Ian Finkel, son of the beloved veteran actor Fyvush, Allen richly captured Tucker’s stentorian, heavily exhalatory delivery, sang with a better, more powerful voice than Sophie herself, and convulsed us with lines like, “There were five sailors lined up outside the stage door tonight. And I said to them, ‘Fellas, I just did four shows and a rehearsal. One of you is going to have to leave!’”

BY DAVID NOH Gay City News