Broadway Originals

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Broadway Originals

Feinstein’s/54 Below, NYC, August 26, 2016

Reviewed by Joel Benjamin for Cabaret Scenes

Broadway-Originals-Cabaret-Scenes-Magazine_212Once again, Scott Siegel’s combination of great performers singing numbers they performed on Broadway and Ross Patterson’s brilliant musical direction added up to a great program. All the artists had fascinating stories to go with their songs, unfortunately too long to go into here.

This latest Broadway Originals at Feinstein’s/54 Below traveled back to 1959 when Yvonne Constant ventured from France to the Big Apple (which fascinated them all) with the company of La Plume de ma Tante.  The still zesty and charming Constant, unbelievably circling 80, sang “One of Those Songs” (Gérard Calvi/Francis Blanche/Ross Parker) in both French and English while agilely prancing about the tiny stage.

Elizabeth Stanley sang a simmering-beneath-the-surface “Fever” (Eddie Cooley/Otis Blackwell/Peggy Lee) used in Million Dollar Quartet and a limpid, touching “Some Other Time” (Leonard Bernstein/Betty Comden/Adolph Green) from her recent stint in On the Town.

The always fascinating Stephen DeRosa turned “No More” (Stephen Sondheim), the Baker’s big moment from Into the Woods, into an epic tale of moral and emotional despair.

From the most recent revival of The Threepenny Opera, Brian Charles Rooney sang “Aria of Lucy” (Kurt Weill/Bertolt Brecht) in German in a stratospheric soprano. Although his voice does, indeed, tend to the high notes, this was an awe-inspiring moment (especially considering he was nursing a cold!).

Eddie Korbich, another high tenor, turned “When the Children Are Asleep” (Rodgers & Hammerstein) from Carousel into a sweet portrait of marital—and career—bliss. He also joined forces with Beth Fowler for a poignant reprise of their “Not While I’m Around” from the York Theatre revival of Sweeney Todd.

There were two particularly thrilling and moving moments: Fowler’s “Patterns” (Maltby/Shire), her cry of anguish, inexplicably cut from Baby (but included in the cast album), and Austin Pendleton touchingly re-creating his Motel the Tailor from Fiddler on the Roof with a rendition of “Miracle of Miracles” (Jerry Bock/Sheldon Harnick) that was simple, effective and masterful.

A bonus encore was a preview of the upcoming Beaches sung by its composer, David Austin, and a charming Heather Brorsen, in which two characters regret the pain they’ve caused each other (lyrics by Iris Rainer Dart).

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.