Performer Andrea Marcovicci is an acquired taste.

She's an actress, who, nurtured as a child on the Great American songbook, was easily lured into the cabaret.

Watching her devil-may-care theatrics blend with tasteful musical repertoire for the first time in the late '80s, we readily accepted the respectable voice with a decided nasal twang. This was a dramatic chanteuse -- or as a wag of my acquaintance likes to say, "shan-toozy" -- and we liked her talent, her spunk.

Andrea Marcovicci grabbed one's attention with her devotion to Tin Pan Alley, with her commitment to lyricists as well as tunesmiths, and we were often slackjawed. In addition, Marcovicci was -- and still is -- a clothes horse.

Unfortunately, she's picked up a bit of a whinny.

It has been two decades since she appeared on the cabaret scene and age, I'm afraid, has not been kind to her pipes. At times, they come off a bit rusty.

She was in wine country the other evening offering her latest program, a tribute to hoofer Fred Astaire and the music he introduced and danced to in legendary Hollywood films. Nearly 400 people turned up at the Napa Valley Opera House Saturday night to celebrate one of America's greatest dancers and enjoy this entertainer's salute.

The 90-minute show was satisfying in every way but one. It was informative and amusing, for Marcovicci is a great raconteur. It was eye-catching, for Marcovicci dazzled us in elegant black and white design, gorgeous in ostrich feathers and palm frond imprinted gown, spiffy in tuxedo, as were her classy black-tied henchmen, pianist/arranger Shelly Markham and bassist Daniel Fabricant. And the song selections from the pens of Cole Porter, the Gershwin brothers, Jerome Kern and the like made us feel warm and fuzzy. However, Marcovicci's vocal efforts were not always on the mark.

The opening numbers proved shaky, the pacing slightly off. By the time she was able to warm up the vocal chords and shake loose a bit of the rust, we were well into the show.

In fact, the segment in which she displayed gorgeous gams sitting atop the piano -- a Marcovicci trademark -- offered none of the rusty vibrato heard early on. Astaire wrote the music for "I'm Building Up to An Awful Let-Down" and Marcovicci delivered Johnny Mercer's witty lyrics from the 1935 hit with energetic flourish, and her shimmering treatment of the Gershwins' ballad, "They Can't Take That Away From Me" proved one of the show's best moments. The Harold Arlen-Johnny Mercer classic that one usually associates with Ol' Blue Eyes, "One For My Baby," also got stellar treatment from the headliner.

And an uptempo duet with consummate stand-up accompanist Fabricant on the Gershwins' rollicking "Slap That Bass" proved a real crowdpleaser.

As an entertainment, "Andrea Sings Astaire" came off as a success. There were lots of informative bits as well as amusing tales about the renowned silver screen hoofer. It was an attractive presentation, good sound and lights (even with the headliner's forays into the audience) and the songlist couldn't have been better. Save for the songs with extended notes (and there were plenty of them) on which the singer sounded flat -- or as the "American Idol" crowd likes to say, "pitchy" -- the material was delivered well by a classy singing actress. Some of us enjoyed the show, others didn't. As one who acquired a taste for Marcovicci nearly two decades ago, I understand.