How do you present 100 years of Broadway with 100 Shows, 100 Songs, and 100 Stars? Just start with a showman and end with a show-stopper.
In his 14th “Broadway By the Year” concert, a one-night-only event, Scott Siegel reached out for one of our favorite showmen around, Mark Nadler. Put Nadler at a piano, and how many others can squeeze the juice from "I Love a Piano" (Stop! Look! Listen!) with such mischievous musicianship and crazed comedy? He belted the Irving Berlin tune and kept going, adding a pinch of "Maple Leaf Rag," "Fur Elise," some Grieg chords, a few bars of boogie-woogie, a version of "Chopsticks" that goes wild and wacky, and finally back to "I Love a Piano." Yes, it ran on a bit but certainly left the audience primed for showtime.
Zooming right to the end of the evening is a prime-time show-stopper. Guest bass baritone, Joshua Henry (The Scottsboro Boy) delivered a buffo rendition of "Ol' Man River" (Show Boat), backed by the Broadway by the Year Chorus. With a vocal tone as rich as molasses and an on-target understanding of the dock worker, Joe, Henry was compelling. His working-man's spiritual was the premier performance of the evening.
Scott Siegel and director Scott Coulter kept the extensive program moving chronologically. Between the showman and the shop-stopper were examples of the musical genres over 25 years -- vaudeville, post WWI standards, frothy comedies, various Follies, Scandals, and Revues. Delivering the songs was a mix of winners and could-have-been-betters. With restrained simplicity, Emily Skinner delivered "I'll Be Seeing You," a 1938 ballad from Right This Way that became a popular wartime hit several years later. In a lavish flapper dress, Carole J. Bufford did not reflect the street-corner hooker with "Love For Sale" (The New Yorkers), although her lush voice was in full power. Karen Akers, gliding swan-like on to the stage, served as a welcome moment of calm and longing with the Irving Berlin torch song, "What'll I Do?" from Music Box Review, and Sal Viviano delivered a silky "Begin the Beguine" (Jubilee). Opening Act II, handsome Sebastian Arcelus reached out and touched a lot of hearts and eyes as he crooned Treasure Girl's 1928 tune, "I've Got a Crush On You." Country singer Lari White, who was seen in the musical, Ring of Fire, gripped attention in her eloquent rendition of, "Can't Help Lovin' That Man" from the milestone Broadway show, Show Boat. Triple-threat dancer/singer/personality/choreographer, Noah Racey, was a delight with "I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise" (George White's Scandals) backed by the rhythm and syncopation of Ross Patterson's Little Big Band. Racey also joined Danny Gardner to perform "Friendship" (Du Barry was a Lady). Operettas enjoyed a period of popularity in the 1920's and '30's and two sublime renditions included Dillon McCartney with "Serenade" from the long-running The Student Prince and John Easterlin putting down the microphone to deliver a sumptuous "Only a Rose" (The Vagabond King). The show included a plethora of belters, many of whom never moved the microphone from their mouths. Beth Leavel's "Rock-a-bye Your Baby With a Dixie Melody" (Sinbad) was a pure shout-out. "My Man" a masochistic anthem, was turned into overblown theatricality by the talented Stephanie J. Block. Julia Murney with her rendition of "Blow Gabriel, Blow" (Anything Goes), Karen Mason's "Riding High" (Red, Hot and Blue), and Carolee Carmello with "Johnny One Note" (Babes in Arms) would have been better served if their segments had been given more breathing time in between. Ross Patterson and his Little Big Band was supportive behind ballads and belters alike, providing creative arrangements. The Broadway by the Year Chorus performed with polish. 100 Shows, 100 Songs, and 100 Stars - it is an extraordinary project and this first program ended at 1939. The next 75 years of musicals focus on the following programs: Broadway By the Year of 1940-1964, Broadway By the Year of 1965-1989, Broadway By the Year of 1990-2014. You will not get a more entertaining bang for your buck than this music plus Scott Siegel's tasty snippets of theater lowdown.
