04/18/06

VOICES OF SPRING at Merkin Concert Hall

Posted by: Gregg Culling
On Talkin' Broadway
   
Broadway Concerts Direct presented a wonderful show "Voices of Spring" Monday night at Merkin Concert Hall in New York City (West 67th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam). It’s a wonderful venue with an intimate feel and perfect acoustics. Four Broadway singers performed an evening of songs celebrating Spring and life itself. Songs ranged from Stephen Sondheim (SWEENEY TODD), William Finn (A NEW BRAIN), Jerome Kern, Ivor Novello, Sigmund Romberg, Lucy Simon (SECRET GARDEN), Maltby & Shire (CLOSER THAN EVER) to J. Strauss through Billy Joel, and Simon & Garfunkel. All sung without microphones! Sort of a Siegel's Broadway Unplugged with classically trained voices.

Claudine Cassan-Jellison has Off-Broadway credits (including CLOSER THAN EVER) and has performed PETER PAN innumerable times throughout the world (and she still looks and sounds the part! She sang "Neverland" (Styne/Comden/Green) to prove it). She was particularly fine on Joel's "You're My Home" and "(I'd Rather Be) Sailing" (from Finn's A NEW BRAIN). Her big number "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart" ((J. Hanley) nearly brought down the house. She was also quite wonderful on "Under Paris Skies / Sous le Ciel de Paris" (Giraud/Drejac) which she performed in beautiful French. C'est si bon!

From the Broadway cast of SHENANDOAH, Gary Harger tried his French accent on "I Want What I Want When I Want It" (V. Herbert/H. Blossom) from MLLE. MODISTE, and he had a lot of animated fun with Irving Berlin's "I Love a Piano." Serving as musical director throughout was the wonderful James Bassi who also serves as musical director for opera star Deborah Voight's numerous concerts performances. Harger also shined on "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" (LeGrand/Bergman), where he really seemed to find his groove.

The biggest treat, for me, was the coloratura soprano Sarah Rice who wowed us with the song she introduced on Broadway in Sondheim's SWEENEY TODD "Green Finch (and Linnet Bird)." Amazingly, she sounds just like she did in the original production and on the Original Cast Recording (1979). She was positively stunning on "Voci di Primavera" (J. Strauss/I. Celsete) as she has obviously performed this numerous times, and she has it down to perfection. She was superb on Romberg's "Romance" from THE DESERT SONG (lyrics: Harbach/Hammerstein), and Menotti's "Steal Me Sweet Thief" from OLD MAID AND THE THIEF, not something you often hear in concert. She was quite the comedian on the multiple verses of Rodgers/Hart's "To Keep My Love Alive."

Philadelphia native André McRae was in his element with "Free At Last" (R. Miller) from BIG RIVER, and his stentorian baritone shone through. He was very animated in his fine delivery of "T'ain't Nobody's Business If I Do" (Grainger/Dobbins), with his growls and brief scatting, and he was equally fine when he spoke of the closeness he has developed with his grandmother who gave him this advice: "Don't let people rent space in your head." This lead him into Charlie Smalls' "Be a Lion" from THE WIZ where he sang of standing strong and tall.

There were also duets from the Lucy Simon/Marsha Norman THE SECRET GARDEN ("Where in the World/How Could I Know"), and Maltby & Shire's CLOSER THAN EVER ("It's Never That Easy / I've Been Here Before") that were brilliantly performed. The four ended in harmonic bliss with Simon and Garfunkel's "Scarborough Fair / Canticle" that seemed fitting for the days we now live in:

War bellows blazing in scarlet battalions
Generals order their soldiers to kill
And to fight for a cause they've long ago forgotten

Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme...

Future unplugged concerts in this series will include artists like Judy Blazer, Maureen Brennan, Marni Nixon and Lumiri Tubo. For more information, see their Web site below.

~ Gregg Culling