Billy Stritch
Cy Coleman Revisited
54 Below, NYC, September 23, 2022
Reviewed by Ron Forman
Photo: Christopher Boudewyns
Billy Stritch was fortunate to get to know jazz pianist/composer Cy Coleman as a friend. Coleman wrote the music for some of Broadway’s greatest musicals, including Sweet Charity (lyrics by Dorothy Fields) and City of Angels (lyrics by David Zippel), as well as hit songs, including “Witchcraft” and “The Best Is Yet to Come” (both with lyrics by Carolyn Leigh). Stritch’s friendship with Coleman made this show a very loving tribute, and Stritch told some very amusing anecdotes about Coleman’s life and career.
He was also able to acquire sheet music to many of Coleman’s lesser-known and unrecorded songs.
Stritch has a sound and style that can really swing but also
works nicely for romantic ballads. Although seated at the piano, he managed to
face front so his facial expressions, including a big smile, were an important
part of the show. He was also a long-time music director for Liza Minnelli.
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His piano playing is always superb, and he even managed to squeeze in some very funny stories about Liza. He was backed by two marvelous jazz musicians—Tom Hubbard (bass) and Eric Harverson (drums). They all work wonderfully well as a team.
Stritch opened, appropriately, with a swinging “The Best Is Yet to Come.” He brought the right slow and soft touch to “Why Try to Change Me Now” (written with Joseph Allen McCarthy), and he was particularly effective with the poignant phrase, “Don’t you remember, I was always your clown.” That was followed with another beautifully performed ballad from City of Angels, “With Every Breath I Take.” He showed his ability to sing a very funny song, “The Laarge Daark Aaardvark Song,” with lyrics by “my son the folksinger”Alan Sherman. He performed the equivalent of a three-act play about the end of a love affair with a medley of “Rules of the Road (lyrics by Leigh)” “On Second Thought,” and “Let Me Down Easy.”
There was also a medley of three songs from Sweet Charity: one from the original Broadway score, one that was cut from the show, and one that was added to the movie version. His closing number was another medley, this one with songs from Little Me (lyrics by Leigh):“I Wanna Be with You” and “I’ve Got Your Number.”
