Michael Feinstein
I Could Have Danced All Night:
The Lerner and Loewe Songbook
Appel Room, NYC, June 6, 2019
Reviewed by Ron Forman for Cabaret Scenes
Photo: Lawrence Sumulong
In his opening comments, Michael Feinstein mentioned that it was appropriate to salute the team of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederic Loewe in the beautiful Appel Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center because so many of their songs have been adopted and transformed by jazz artists. This show combined traditional and jazzy performances of some of the best songs in the Lerner and Loewe songbook.
Feinstein was joined by three wonderful vocalists: Melissa Errico, John Lloyd Young, and Liz Callaway. He and his guest stars told very amusing anecdotes about Lerner’s life and loves.
The singers were backed by a swinging trio led by music director Tedd Firth, whose arrangements were a big part of what made this show special.
The trio opened the show with a swinging medley of “Gigi” and “Thank Heaven for Little Girls.
” Feinstein’s opening number was a soft and sweet “The Heather on the Hill,” backed only by Firth on piano.
Errico did a jazzy medley of “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly” and “I Could Have Danced All Night,” ending it by showing off her beautiful soprano by holding the last note on the word “night.” She amusingly remarked that she has often sung those songs the “correct” way, so she was happy to sing them incorrectly. She then sang “I Loved You Once in Silence” as it was originally performed in Camelot. Feinstein returned with softly swung “On the Street Where You Live.” Young told of being directed in the filming of Jersey Boys by Clint Eastwood, then performed the song sung by Eastwood in the film Paint Your Wagon, “I Talk to the Trees.” Callaway opened with “Before I Gaze at You Again” followed by a wonderfully arranged jazz-waltz, “Show Me,” featuring a dazzling piano solo by Firth. Callaway was joined by Feinstein for a very slow and romantic “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her (His) Face.” He performed ‘If Ever I Would Leave You” in memory of Robert Goulet, holding the final note on the word “all” just as Goulet did.
The entire cast closed the show with a medley of “Paint Your Wagon,” “Camelot,” and “The Night They Invented Champagne.
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