New York Pops: 42nd on 57th: Broadway Today

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New York Pops

42nd on 57th: Broadway Today

Carnegie Hall, NYC, March 11, 2016

Reviewed by Joel Benjamin for Cabaret Scenes

Darren-Criss-Betsy-Wolfe-Cabaret-Scenes-Magazine_212
Photo: Maryann Lopinto

Steven Reineke wasn’t content to be just the suave Music Director/Conductor of the New York Pops. No, he also had to join his two guest artists, Betsy Wolfe and Darren Criss, as a backup singer, dance partner and scene stealer, most memorably in “You and Me (But Mostly Me)” from The Book of Mormon (Parker/Stone/Lopez, the latter accompanying one of his songs later in the show).

42nd on 57th: Broadway Today was a visit to musical theater amplified to concert hall dimensions. After a rousing overture of selections from The Phantom of the Opera, the two Broadway stars began their marathon of solos and duets with Criss’ cutely nervous “I Love Betsy” from Honeymoon in Vegas (Jason Robert Brown), followed by a duet of the monumentally jittery “Getting Married Today” (Sondheim) with Wolfe as the insecure bride and Criss as the smitten groom with Reineke humorously poking his nose into the proceedings.

Wolfe provided a show-within-the-show by wearing a different chic gown for each of her numbers. She was at her best in soaring ballads, such as “Unusual Way” from Nine (Maury Yeston), “Meadowlark” from The Baker’s Wife (Stephen Schwartz) and the program’s finale, “Maybe This Time” heard in the film version and later revivals revivals of Cabaret (Kander & Ebb).

Criss went from the elegiac “I’d Rather Be Sailing” (William Finn’s A New Brain) to the soulful “I Dreamed a Dream” (Les Misérables by Boublil and Schönberg) with aplomb.

The two guests played off each other in two richly romantic songs from The Bridges of Madison County (Jason Robert Brown) as well as the comedic, over-the-top “Suddenly Seymour” (Alan Menken/Howard Ashman).

It was fascinating to discover which numbers benefited from the immense instrumental forces of the NYP (Flaherty & Ahrens’ “Ragtime” & Stephen Schwartz’s “Meadowlark”) and which didn’t (Brown’s “A Summer in Ohio” from The Last Five Years).

One critical note: the audio staff might reconsider the balance between the singers and the orchestra—too often the lyrics were drowned out.

Joel Benjamin

A native New Yorker, Joel was always fascinated by musical theater. Luckily, he was able to be a part of seven Broadway musicals before the age of 14, quitting to pursue a pre-med degree, which led no where except back to performing in the guise of directing a touring ballet troupe. Always interested in writing, he wrote a short play in high school that was actually performed, leading to a hiatus of nearly 40 years before he returned to writing as a reviewer. Writing for Cabaret Scenes has kept him in touch with world filled with brilliance.