In their 33rd birthday gala, called Do You Hear the People Sing, The New York Pops celebrated the works of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg best known for Les Miserables and Miss Saigon, and truly, one of those would have been enough to save them a spot in the pantheon of great musical theatre composers for all of eternity. Featuring a list of guest performers that ranged from Steven Pasquale to Patti LuPone, the night was especially memorable for highlighting works by Boublil and Schönberg that aren’t quite as famous as Les Mis Saigon. For instance, they dedicated the entr’acte to The Pirate Queen, which chronicled the life of Irish pirate Gráinne O’Malley, the instrumental “The Wedding Ring” was followed by a rousing performance from Stephanie J. Block who sang the show’s own “Woman”.
The Pops also paid tribute to Martin Guerre (Hugh Panaro sang “I’m Martin Guerre”) and joined Kyle Scatliffe, Montego Glover and Laura Osnes in the chilling “In the Land of the Fathers”, backed by the majestic Essential Voices USA under conductor Judith Clurman. Pops conductor Steven Reineke joked about how Alain and Claude-Michel’s very first musical together was on the little topic of the entire French Revolution, and he invited Marie Zamora to sing the part of Queen Marie Antoinette in the moving “Au petit matin”.
The other significant theme of the night was highlighting the endurance of Les Mis Saigon especially when it comes to inter-generational bonds. Therefore the opening number was performed by Broadway-bound-Miss Saigon Eva Noblezada, who sang a heart-wrenching “I’d Give My Life for You”. She was then joined onstage by the original Kim and the two did “The Movie in My Mind”. It was lovely to see Ms. Noblezada staring lovingly at the woman she confessed to having admired all her life. Ms. Salonga similarly looked at her with pride and joy. Looking at them would have been fulfilling enough, but boy did their voices sound absolutely heavenly.
In what proved to be the most spectacular number of the night Ms. Salonga was joined by Ms. Block and Ms. LuPone in a Fantine-off as the three sang “I Dreamed a Dream”. The Fantines were followed by the Jean Valjeans - Eric Kunze, Hugh Panaro, John Owen-Jones and Robert Marien - who sang “Bring Him Home”. By teaming different styles of performers, with different kinds of vocal abilities (Ms. Lupone played Madame Thenardier to Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s Monsieur in a hilarious “Master of the House”, Jeremy Jordan served as their houseboy) the gala made clear why the works of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg remain universal, despite seeming so specific. It’s no coincidence that, “On My Own” , one of their biggest hits which seems to be all about alienation has a French title that means “my story”. As Ms. Salonga sang it with Ms. Zamora, there was no such thing as a language barrier, it was as if they were both communicating straight with our hearts.
