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10/31/05 |
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Brilliant
Mistake |
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Friends in Deed Benefit:
Broadway sings Elvis Costello |
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Gerald W. Lynch Theater, NYC |
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www.friendsindeed.org |
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If you’re a theatre maven (or queen,
perhaps) – and who in New York isn’t, for what’s the point of
enduring all of New York’s difficulties if not for the saving grace
of the theatre? – then one of life’s little joys in this town is
witnessing the growth and evolution of various theatrical performers
you recognize from various shows. Watching a particular performer
stretch beyond the confines of one show into something else
altogether in another show, it’s nice to give yourself a little pat
on the back for being one of the first who recognized that talent
from your seat on the aisle. And this past Halloween night was the
perfect opportunity to witness the startling transformations of a
number of extremely talented Broadway singers as they sang their way
through the Elvis Costello songbook in a benefit for the crisis
center Friends in Deed.
For nearly thirty years, Mr. Costello has been making music which
hooks in the memory banks, writing songs about the costs of love and
relationships and the injustices of life, but perhaps the extreme
largesse of Costello’s work becomes more readily apparent when sung
by a group of savvy performers possessing of some of the city’s most
idiosyncratic voices.
Take, for example, Daphne Rubin-Vega’s rendition of “Everyday I
Write the Book,” which Ms. Vega performed as if she were Marilyn
Monroe as a majorette in black leather and white tutu. Complete with
black leather platform boots, Ms. Vega sold this song with the
aplomb of a Vegas showgirl, thereby erasing any previous evidence of
Mr. Costello himself ever singing a song once so completely
associated with him.
Similarly, Justin Bond, who appeared wearing a kind of shadowy-gray
outfit one might associate with London during the Blitz, ripped
through a version of “(I Don’t Want to Go To) Chelsea” which had him
scatting like Ella as he forgot the lyrics and, to hilarious effect,
confessed his addictions in a manner more often associated with the
rooms of AA.
And then there was Raul Esparza. Anyone who has ever heard Mr.
Esparza onstage knows there is no question this gifted performer
knows how to sell a song. From Sondheim to Jonathan Larson, Esparza
becomes his material – and last night was no exception as he tore
into “God Give Me Strength” and made it a primeval call for the
faith to go on loving in the face of betrayal. It was a brilliant
performance which made you wonder if you’d ever before really heard
the song. And never again would you hear it without Esparza’s
version echoing in your memory.
So much talent packed into one theater for one night. Prior to
singing “So Like Candy,” Sherie Rene Scott gave a most endearing
speech about her guilt at not being downtown at the Halloween parade
where “her people” were, the gays and lesbians. Not that she is one,
as she confessed, though she did define herself as “Q for
questioning,” and thereafter, launched into a version of “So Like
Candy” which should have had more than a few lesbians in attendance
waiting at her dressing room door.
There was also Nellie MacKay who worked “Party Girl” in her adorably
kewpie doll style as she accompanied herself on the piano, and Billy
Porter with a beautiful rendition of “She,” and also Marcy Harriell
who bopped her way through “Radio, Radio,” and in so doing,
generated an enormous amount of the incredible energy which followed
in the performances thereafter.
Complete with Mr. Costello’s own performances at evening’s end,
“Brilliant Mistake” was one of those thrilling theatrical evenings
in New York which make you realize, yet again, that there was never
any mistake in making the choice to settle in this music-rich and
performance-heavyweight town. |
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