After the success of a revamped formula in Broadway by the Year - The 1930s, Scott Siegel and Co. are back to pay tribute to what arguably was the greatest decade in musical theatre history with Broadway by the Year - The 1950s, ten years that saw The Great White Way welcome new shows by Cole Porter, Robert Wright, Lerner and Loewe, Meredith Wilson, Jerry Ross, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Jule Styne, and saw the inception of a new lyricist by the name of Stephen Sondheim. Unlike previous concerts, Broadway by the Year - The 1950s wasn’t presented in chronological fashion, but rather a more impressionistic approach, that saw the show build from a delicious opener by Marilyn Maye (“All of You” from Silk Stockings), to a rousing first-act closer (“Heart” from Damn Yankees performed by Jim Brochu, Josh Grisetti, Luke Hawkins and Ryan Scoble) and a magnificent finale that saw Maye return to sing “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” from Gypsy, and the incomparable Lisa Howard sing “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” from The Sound of Music, making use of her soprano instrument in unexpectedly beautiful ways.
But while that larger structure was astonishing, the numbers in between were equally impressive, particularly when they bent the way in which we’re used to seeing them. For “Love, Look Away” from Flower Drum Song, Karen Akers was accompanied not by the great Ross Patterson and his band (who joined in for every other number), but by guitarist Sean Harkness, who made the number achieve a unique sensuality. For “Too Close for Comfort” from Mr. Wonderful, Ms. Maye was joined onstage by the extraordinary Jimmy James Sutherland who tap danced away as the luscious chanteuse serenaded him. Most memorable of all were incarnations of “Cool” from West Side Story performed by Luke Hawkins who made us wonder why Jerome Robbins didn’t include more tap in his legendary choreography, and “All I Need is the Girl” from Gypsy, which was presented in an instrumental approach, as Hawkins and Sutherland competed for the attention of Jill Paice.
The lovely Ms. Paice also shone when she sang “Till There Was You” from The Music Man, and “One Hand, One Heart” from West Side Story, joined by the impressive Douglas Ladnier, who epitomized “swoon worthy” (perhaps an homage to King of the 50s Frank Sinatra?) also singing “They Call the Wind Maria” from Paint Your Wagon, and the sensual “Stranger in Paradise” from Kismet which left audience members lost in a wonderland, with stars shining in their eyes.
