On Saturday May 30th, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra presented a show called “Broadway Spectacular” in which conductor Todd Ellison (currently seen on Broadway as the music supervisor for An American in Paris) led a program of some of his favorite Broadway numbers, most of which were from shows he’s worked in or showcased the best work of his guest performers: Beth Leavel, Christopher Sieber and Kathryn Guthrie. The night opened with an electrifying rendition of the overture from Gypsy, which saw the NJSO in top form. After this, Leavel was introduced and she sang “Ridin’ High” after which she talked about her career and made a joke about “being only 24”. This was followed by her confession that she would love to play Dolly Levi in Hello, Dolly! which led to her performance of “So Long Dearie”. Leavel also performed her famous “As We Stumble Along” and talked about the joys of having a part written just for your voice.
Leavel was followed by the endlessly charismatic Sieber who sang “Broadway Baby” looking absolutely dapper in a white tux. He claimed that singing with the NJSO was akin to “surfing a wave of music” and confessed that if he got to sing with such an orchestra every night on Broadway, he would never call in sick. Sieber performed “If I Can’t Love Her” from Beauty and the Beast (perhaps we’ll see him play the lead role if the show comes back to Broadway at some point?) and shared a hilarious anecdote about how he broke his pinkie when he played Gaston, and also one about turning Into the Woods into Carrie, the very first time he performed it (in a nutshell, Sieber is prone to hilarious chaos onstage). He stopped the show with a majestic rendition of “I Am What I Am” from La Cage Aux Folles. He returned once more to lead a wonderful encore of “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” from Spamalot, which had the audience whistling along with him.
Besides the great work of the guests, Ellison made sure the orchestra got enough attention and had them perform sweeping medleys of A Chorus Line, Phantom of the Opera and opened the second act with the overture from Chicago (rightfully followed by Sieber doing “All I Care About is Love”), but it has to be said that the show’s true MVP was soprano Kathryn Guthrie who stole the show with her sensitive rendition of “Till There Was You”. Her voice came out crisp, and for all of its beauty never seemed too embellished. She also stood out beautifully in the “Lloyd Webber Love Trio” which saw each of the guests sing a love song from the famous composer, and then layered them to create a beautifully layered ode to romance. Sieber did “Love Changes Everything”, Leavel sang “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” and Guthrie performed “Unexpected Song”. She shared a story about singing along to The Sound of Music when she lived in Austria, and it became evident that someone needs to put her in a revival, right this very second!
