Brian Stokes Mitchell strode onto the stage of the Strathmore Music Center and launched into “Some Enchanted Evening.”  That began a love-fest with the audience that ended ninety-some minutes later with a heartfelt version of “The Impossible Dream.”  The middle was filled with an arguably perfect concert.

Mitchell showed he could be cool and jazzy with his rendition of “The Best is Yet to Come.”  He performed a version of “Wheels of a Dream” from his breakthrough show Ragtime that made one forget it was originally a duet.  And that says a lot when you consider that in Ragtime he performed the song with the formidable Audra MacDonald.  He was intensely romantic on songs such as “So In Love” and “How Long Has This Been Going On?”  And the audience held its collective breath as her performed an “unplugged” version of “This Nearly Was Mine.”

Particular standouts in the concert included a medley of “Being Green” and “Hooray…” in which he touchingly conveyed the awkwardness of adolescence, and “New Words” celebrating both the discoveries of childhood along with a parent’s re-discovery of childhood.  The Ahrens and Flaherty number “I Was Here” provided Mitchell with an opportunity to display the theatrical bombast that won him his Tony Award.

Mitchell has everything one would want in a checklist of concert artist talent.  Gorgeous voice? Check.  Warm, engaging stage presence? Check. Emotional connection to material? Terrific musicality? Ferocious connection to material? Beautifully arranged and structured show? Check, check, check, and check!

Mitchell received able assistance from music director Gerard D’Angelo, and side players Buddy Williams (Drums), Gary Haase (Bass), and Bob Magnuson (Reeds).  D’Angelo kept setting the perfect moods for Mitchell’s interpretations, from the quiet musical support for the off-mike version of “This Nearly Was Mine” to the full-orchestral feel of “Wheels of a Dream.”  And Magnuson had several outstanding moments providing licks on the sax that provided a perfect musical counterpoint to Mitchell.

A word should be said for the Music Center at Strathmore, one of the DC region’s newest concert venues.  The acoustics are terrific, and the 1976 seat concert hall has the intimacy of a living room.  Its location at a Capitol Beltway exit and free parking make it easily accessible for suburbanites and its adjacency to a Metro station makes it as convenient as a downtown venue for the city-dwellers.

Michael Miyazaki
Cabaret Scenes
April 4, 2008
www.cabaretscenes.org