Sammy Williams
Tom Rolla’s Gardenia, West Hollywood, CA, June 20, 2015
Reviewed by Elliot Zwiebach for Cabaret Scenes
Sammy Williams is a true song-and-dance man. He sings with confidence and articulates each emotion—tenderness, sweetness, joy and pain—with sincerity and acting chops that prove winning the Tony for A Chorus Line was no fluke. And though he didn’t dance in his latest show, he used his body with such elegance and grace that one barely noticed that his feet weren’t moving.
That elegance was particularly apparent in Williams’s bouncy take on “Once Too Often” (James V. Monaco/Mack Gordon, from the film Pin Up Girl), a swaying “Feather in My Shoe” (Will Holt/David Baker from Come Summer) and one of his signature numbers, the smooth, classy “When Fifty Wore a Tux” (Mark Winkler/Marie Cain/Shelly Markham from Too Old for the Chorus).
Performing with obvious joy, Williams opened with a confident “My Night to Howl” (Charlie Black/Austin Roberts/Richard C. Giles), followed by a bubbly version of “I’ve Got the World on a String” (Harold Arlen/Ted Koehler) and a soft, sweet “Look at That Face” (Anthony Newley/Leslie Bricusse from The Roar of the Greasepaint, The Smell of the Crowd).
He had the audience swaying along with his smooth, relaxed take on “Carry Me Back to Old Manhattan” (George C.
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Cory, Jr./Douglass Cross) and had it oohing and aahing over photos of his adorable new puppy, a poodle mix named Ricky, while he sang “You Make Me Feel So Young” (Josef Myrow/Mack Gordon).
Williams did a strong version of “What Kind of Fool Am I?” (Newley/Bricusse)—calling it the song “that set my [theatrical] dream in motion.” He told a wonderful story about watching his first Broadway show from a distant balcony seat adjacent to a post at New York’s Shubert Theatre, then referred back to that moment later in the evening when he described a night when he was on stage at the Shubert in A Chorus Line and realized how far he had come when he happened to catch a light in the balcony next to that post.
That reminiscence led to one of the highlights of the evening: Williams recreating the 15-minute monologue as Paul San Marco that won him his Tony. From the upbeat joie de vivre of the music that preceded it, Williams changed the mood completely by transforming himself into an uncertain youth struggling to describe his efforts to deal with his sexuality and the work he has fallen into—a stunning, remarkable tour de force that was exciting not only in terms of the performance itself, but also its historic context and the brilliance of the writing. The Tony may be years past, but the talent endures.
Williams got strong support from Musical Director Ron Snyder on piano and Tim Emmons on bass, and Alan Rachins read the part of Zach to set up the monologue.
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