While moviegoers continued flocking to the theaters to see Thor, Captain America and the Hulk battle it out against Ultron in The Avengers sequel, on May 4th at Carnegie Hall there was a different kind of superhero assembly, as the brightest stars of the stage got together to celebrate The New York Pops ’ 32nd Birthday in an unforgettable gala honoring the work of the extraordinary siblings: Kathleen and Rob Marshall. The always dapper Steven Reineke, sporting a sequined black bowtie, welcomed the audience and special guests to the gala by introducing Tony winner Alan Cumming, who once again took on the role of the Emcee from Cabaret to perform “Wilkommen”. Dressed in pink from head to toe, Cumming reminded us why he made the part his own, adding devilish flourishes to the song by paying tribute to the honorees and the orchestra that accompanied him (“even the orchestra is beautiful”).
Cumming was followed by Victor Garber who sang a rousing “Those Were the Good Old Days” from Damn Yankees and proved to be one of the most low key, enchanting moments of the night along with Brian Stokes Mitchell’s rendition of Cole Porter’s “Where is the Life That Late I Led?” Throughout the course of the gala we were reminded of The New York Pops’ work with budding musicians, and young performers were front and center on three occasions, first up an impressive rendition of “Seventy-Six Trombones” performed by Camp Broadway Kids, a stunning medley of selections from Hans Zimmer’s score to Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and most moving of all, four children of the Children of Ronald McDonald House New York joined the effervescent Rob McClure to sing “You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile”.
As we kept being reminded, the Marshall siblings have done their very best to preserve and promote the great American songwriters, and have ushered “The New Golden Age” of the musical, which is why some of the most exciting moments featured grand diva performances like Rachel York doing “Le Jazz Hot” from Victor/Victoria complete with four male dancers (Joshua Buscher, Max Clayton, Michaeljon Slinger and Amos Wolff), the incomparable Bebe Neuwirth singing “All That Jazz” from Chicago, Sutton Foster performing the title song from Anything Goes and Queen Latifah appearing to reprise her Academy Award nominated role as Mama Morton with a take on “When You’re Good to Mama” that simply brought down the house.
Attention was also paid to performances with less razzle-dazzle, but with just as much power, such as Laura Benanti’s stunning “Unusual Way”, Rachel York’s chilling “Children Will Listen”, Kelli O’Hara’s take on “Someone to Watch Over Me” from Nice Work If You Can Get It and opera star Renee Fleming made a surprise appearance to sing “Summertime”, needless to say so her voice sounded positively angelic at Carnegie Hall. The night ended on a high with Cumming returning as the Emcee to sing “Cabaret” joined by all the special guests. The gala might have meant to honor the Marshall siblings, but every member in the audience must’ve felt just as honored to see such a constellation of stars reunited onstage.
