With an on-going, successful professional career in musical theater, opera and nightclubs, Tony Richards has now brought his strong stage presence, matinee-idol good looks, and rich, rolling baritone to cabaret. Holding the center of The Triad's stage, with David Gross at the piano behind him, Richards, dapper and at ease, offered a dozen songs from the 1950s and 1960s identified with singers who inspired him: Johnny Hartman, Arthur Prysock, Vic Damone and Bobby Darin. The numbers, delivered with warmth combined with an actor's attention to the lyrics, ranged from "Dream Lover" and "The Glory of Love" to such Rodgers and Hammerstein show hits as "Hello Young Lovers" and "My Favorite Things." This reviewer got itchy, hoping that Richards would depart from ballads to include some huskier songs suited to his voice and that he has performed in such shows as Phantom of the Opera, Man of La Mancha and Oklahoma. Cabaret could use another leading man.

Peter Haas
Cabaret Scenes
April 22, 2007
www.cabaretscenes.org