Scott Siegel’s Broadway Song & Dance Show! Volume 2
Feinstein’s/54Below, NYC, September 13, 2016
Reviewed by Marilyn Lester for Cabaret Scenes
Broadway musicals! They’re a pot of gold and a prime source of standards for cabaret singers – but, as producer/director/host Scott Siegel points out, song is only part of the Broadway equation. Dance is an equally strong component of most musicals.
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So, why not, says Siegel, add it to the cabaret experience? Why not, indeed, as several hoofers proved in the Broadway Song & Dance Show!
Traditional Broadway tap was energetically performed by Luke Hawkins, a long, lean tapper with a pleasing tenor, who sang the Gershwins’ “I Can’t Be Bothered Now” (introduced in a 1937 film, but also included in two latter-day Broadway musicals recycling Gershwin songs, My One and Only and Crazy for You) and “Blue Skies” (Betsy), Irving Berlin’s happy song written in a minor key. This version, though, was delivered in an almost manic upbeat arrangement, which gave both Hawkins and Musical Director/pianist Ross Patterson a workout. It’s always a joy to watch Patterson work: he’s completely invested in the music, so much so that he frequently sounds like a complete orchestra.
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Broadway tapping was also ably demonstrated by Joshua Israel who sang “I’m Coming Out of My Shell” (A Year with Frog and Toad) with great comic flair. The newer art form of rhythm tap was the specialty of Kendrick Jones, who hoofed to the title song from On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, and also sang with the show-closer, “Just in Time” (Bells Are Ringing).
Three singers in the cast provided vocal thrills. When a diva is needed, William Blake fills the bill with his high tenor and powerful voice. He did justice to Babs and Liza, respectively, with “Don’t Rain on My Parade” (Funny Girl) and “Maybe This Time” (Cabaret). As a traditional leading man type, Martin Vidnovic offered a little shtick, a little ham, and a lot of powerful baritone with discerning interpretations of “What Kind of Fool Am I?
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” (Stop the World, I Want to Get Off) and “I Am What I Am” (La Cage aux Folles). Last, but certainly not least, is Brian Charles Rooney, a bari-tenor with flawless timing, perfect phrasing and an uncanny ability to creep right into the center of a song and sing it with impeccable nuance and authenticity. His rendition of “Finishing the Hat” (Sunday in the Park with George) was stunning. The piece de resistance of the evening, though, was Rooney’s haunting “The Music of the Night” (The Phantom of the Opera). Any Christine would willingly follow Phantom Rooney into his lair upon hearing such mesmerizing perfection.