You’ve got to give it to Scott Siegel, he always knows how to surprise you. His Broadway by the Year series, now in its landmark fifteenth season, is a perennial reminder that Broadway is much more than its hits, and we were reminded of that with the selections featured in the installment that covered the musicals from 1966 to 1990. Considering that this quarter century brought Grease and Nine to the Great White Way, it was most pleasing to have Mr. Siegel pick two of the most underrated numbers from those productions to be performed at The Town Hall. From the former he went with “There Are Worse Things I Could Do”, which isn’t even sung by the show’s protagonist Sandy, but by the spunky sidekick Rizzo, the song was performed by the unique Carole J. Bufford. From Nine Siegel chose “Unusual Way” which was given a sumptuous treatment by Michele Ragusa.
As usual, the concert was sprinkled with trivia which Siegel suggested would make for good “cocktail talk”, but in fact helped audience members get a sense of how musical theatre was changing during this era. Siegel commented on how the 80s saw Broadway be invaded by British musicals, some of which were massive hits in the US, like Les Miserables, some of which were not, like Chess. From Les Mis we heard Bob Stillman do a chilling version of “Bring Him Home”, from Chess, Jessica Hendy and the Broadway by the Year Chorus got together to perform a rousing “Nobody’s Side”.
During a wonderful evening featuring performances from some of Broadway’s very best, it was difficult to pick favorites, but it has to be said, that it turned out to be a night of unexpected brilliance for male vocalists. Jason Gotay did a swoon worthy “Being Good Isn’t Enough” from Hallelujah, Baby!, Patrick Page was hilarious as the title character from Cyrano singing “Cyrano’s Nose”, and William Blake brought down the house with his rendition of “Home” from The Wiz making us wish someone would cast him as a gender-bending Dorothy in the upcoming NBC telecast.
As has become tradition at Broadway by the Year, we were reminded of why tap might be the most pleasurable dance form on Earth, as we saw during a sexy performance of “Keepin’ Out of Mischief Now” that had Gabrielle Stravelli sing, while Noah Racey did a stunning tap routine. Dance was center stage again as Danny Gardner, Brent McBeth and Drew Humphrey performed “Nice Work If You Can Get It” from My One and Only, and Gardner stole the show once more in a finale that had him play Buddy Holly and sing “Oh, Boy!” A round of applause once more for Mr. Siegel and his Broadway by the Year series.
