Daryl Glenn: Daryl Sings Steve: Songs by Sondheim

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Daryl Glenn

Daryl Sings Steve: Songs by Sondheim

54 Below, NYC, July 9, 2015

Reviewed by Victoria Ordin for Cabaret Scenes

Photo: Bill Hayward
Photo: Bill Hayward

Daryl Glenn’s warm and funny tribute to his musical idol-turned-friend, Stephen Sondheim, began with “Everyone’s Got the Right” (“…to be happy”) from Assassins, about men and women who have tried to assassinate U.S. Presidents (and sometimes succeeded).

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It’s an apt opening number because happiness is vexed in the legendary lyricist’s work: desired, elusive, often incomplete, and never without risk. 
Between amusing vignettes about his Lexington, Kentucky upbringing, early professional start, move to New York, and correspondence with Sondheim, Glenn sings lesser-known songs from the recording Unsung Sondheim with the same energy and intelligence he lends to familiar favorites like “Giants in the Sky” (Into the Woods). With presumably the same welcoming manner Sondheim extended to him—he allowed Glenn to hold his Oscar for Dick Tracy—Glenn takes us on a tour of personal Sondheim milestones.

The show was Julie Reiber’s first performance since giving birth some two months earlier (she also has a two-and-a-half-year-old). With its breakneck speed, “Another Hundred People” is hardly an easy way to retake the stage, so the sleep-deprived Reiber tripped over the lyrics and began anew. It was perhaps the evening’s funniest moment.

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Her vocal precision, comedic chops, and superstar charisma explain why she is a veteran of three Broadway shows (Wicked, Newsies, Priscilla…), and her duet with Glenn (“It Takes Two”) a true joy. Equally excellent was Glenn’s duet with Musical Director Karen Dryer, “Unworthy of Your Love.”

The least successful part of the show was the Dick Tracy medley, at least to one who knows and loves the film’s score. But Glenn, ably supported by his formidable guests and tight band—Dryer (piano), Sean Harkness (guitar), Ivan Bodley (bass), and Dan Gross (drums)—seemed to have kept the crowd at the nearly sold-out show happy for well over an hour. What could be more fitting for a show that opens on this very theme?