Russ Lorenson: Fanilow: One Man’s Pursuit of Music and Passion

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Russ Lorenson

Fanilow: One Man’s Pursuit of Music and Passion

Feinstein’s at the Nikko, San Francisco, CA, October 22, 2015

Reviewed by Steve Murray for Cabaret Scenes

Russ-Lorenson-Cabaret-Scenes-Magazine_212Many of us know the music that comprises the soundtracks of our lives, music that moved us through both the good and hard times and has become part of our very DNA. For this baby boomer, it was the tumultuous music of the ’60s and ’70s. For Russ Lorenson, it happens to be Barry Manilow, whose music is interwoven with Lorenson’s very personal shares in this playful homage to his muse.

As a sickly child, Lorenson is keenly aware of the estrangement from his parents, whose marriage of convenience is plain to see. Building his own private world, he discovers the magic of Manilow and uses this music as a means of both growth and escape. “Sandra” (Manilow/Enoch Anderson), a bittersweet song of a wife’s dashed dreams and conflicting motherly emotions, sums up Lorenson’s image of his own mother.
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“Even Now” (Manilow/Marty Panzer), a ballad about broken families, mirrors Lorenson’s early home life, his broken marriage and failed attempts at a religious “pray away the gay” period.

Lorenson’s bread and butter are ballads, and he shines on “All the Time” (Manilow/Panzer), effectively a strong coming-out mantra for anyone hiding in a closet.
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Those of us who remember the pain of the lyric—”All the time I thought that I was wrong/Wanting to believe but needing to belong/If I’d’ve just believed in all I had/If someone would have said ‘you’re not so bad'”—know just where Lorenson’s passion originates. Realizing his life on the road was inhibiting his love for performing, he sings the lovely “A Little Traveling Music, Please” (Manilow/Bruce Sussman/Jack Feldman). And when times got very difficult, Lorenson is buoyed by Manilow’s cover of “Life Will Go On” (Richard Kerr/John Bettis).

Of course, there’s room for silliness and Lorenson dons not one, but three flashy disco shirts and ruffled Latin sleeves for “Copacabana” (“At the Copa”) (Manilow/Sussman/Feldman). Lorenson was backed by a tight band with Musical Director Joe Wicht on piano. Three backup singers assisted with the mix, most notably on the beautiful “One Voice” (Manilow). Lorenson actually sang in a chorus onstage with Manilow in 1981, certainly a fan’s dream come true. Fanilow is a heartfelt, deeply personal and engaging homage to his muse.

Steve Murray

Always interested in the arts, Steve was encouraged to begin producing and, in 1998, staged four, one-man vehicles starring San Francisco's most gifted performers. In 1999, he began the Viva Variety series, a live stage show with a threefold mission to highlight, support, and encourage gay and gay-friendly art in all the performance forms, to entertain and document the shows, and to contribute to the community by donating proceeds to local non-profits. The shows utilized the old variety show style popularized by his childhood idol Ed Sullivan. He’s produced over 150 successful shows, including parodies of Bette Davis’s gothic melodramedy Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte and Joan Crawford’s very awful Trog. He joined Cabaret Scenes 2007 and enjoys the writing and relationships he’s built with very talented performers.