By Michael Barbieri****A hooded figure stands at the microphone, his back to us, lit only by a single shaft of white light from above. He turns and delivers a heartfelt plea—seemingly to our current administration—for love, inclusion and acceptance. “Lady Liberty, lift your lamp a little higher. Burn that flame of freedom just a little brighter, please…there’s room for all of us and more. Forever.”
This is Desmond Child!
Name a rock or pop smash from the last 50 years and the odds are Desmond Child wrote it. He has over 80 Billboard Top 40 hits over five decades to his credit, including Ricky Martin’s “Livin’ La Vida Loca,” Aerosmith’s “Angel,” Kiss’ “I Was Made For Lovin’ You,” Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On a Prayer,” Joan Jett & the Blackhearts’ “I Hate Myself for Loving You,” Cher’s “Just Like Jesse James” and many, many more! The New York Times called him one of the most successful songwriters of the last thirty years. Gene Simmons, of Kiss said he’s “the perfect songwriter” and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler was quoted in Rolling Stone as saying “the guy’s a f–cking genius!” “Lady Liberty,” his most recent hit, was recorded by Barbra Streisand for her new album, Walls, and was a moving and intriguing way to start the show.
With an artist of this caliber, you might imagine he’d start the show with some of his lesser known material and save the big hits to be the real meat of the show. But Child gave us meat from the very start! His next number, “Livin’ On a Prayer,” began as more of a ballad than the original, with great harmonies on the choruses. When the song moved to the modulation, however, it went up to tempo and became pure rock ‘n’ roll, with Child urging the audience to sing and clap along. He then handed the lead vocal to his guitarist, Justin Benlolo, for another Bon Jovi smash, “You Give Love a Bad Name.” That transitioned perfectly into Aerosmith’s “Dude (Looks Like a Lady),” which absolutely kicked ass, with Benlolo giving us a powerful rock scream on the ending! I actually found it amusing and a little refreshing to see the audience at The Appel Room—which one might think would be more refined and laid back—rocking out in their seats! And when Child took the vocal on the aforementioned “Angel,” one of Aerosmith’s huge power ballads, his emotional delivery made the song feel like a prayer, with the audience singing along on the closing refrain of “come and save me tonight.”
Child recalled how after he co-wrote “I Hate Myself For Loving You” with Joan Jett; he played the song for Jon Bon Jovi, who then looked at him, said “F–k you,” and walked away! This funny anecdote proved the perfect intro for Child’s special guest, TONY Award winner, Lena Hall, who absolutely killed the number, strutting around the stage like the badass Child promised she’d be. Hall toyed playfully with the audience and gave the song all the power of Joan Jett’s original, yet made it entirely her own. An amazing performance!
We also heard how a serendipitous encounter with Kiss guitarist Paul Stanley led to “I Was Made For Lovin’ You,” which Kiss took to Number 1 all over the world. Child’s rendition of the hit was sheer rock spectacle, with a driving guitar line and Justin Benlolo recreating Paul Stanley’s wild falsetto wail at the end.
Much of the evening centered around Child’s best known compositions. In addition to the ones already mentioned, we heard Cher’s “We All Sleep Alone,” performed beautifully by Benlolo and backing vocalist Tabitha Fair. Michael Bolton’s “How Can We Be Lovers” wassung by Benlolo while Child made a costume change. Some of my favorite songs, however, were the ones with which I was less familiar. “Weird,” a gorgeous ballad released by the group Hanson in 1998, was a wistful ode to misfits and outsiders, sparked by Child’s own childhood. He’s the son of an immigrant Cuban family; he was dirt poor, living in a dangerous and impoverished neighborhood—plus, he’s gay. As sung by Child, his melancholic delivery of lyrics like “you don’t stand out and you don’t fit in…isn’t it strange how we all feel a little bit weird sometimes” came from his very soul. I’ve been that misfit myself, so I felt those lyrics deeply!
Child also gave us a glimpse into his planned Broadway musical, Cuba Libre. His mother’s Cuban background inspired the true story of two sisters, Beba and Miriam, who were the “it girls” of Cuba back in the day. Beba was the mistress of Fulgencio Batista, the pre-revolution dictator, and Miriam eventually became Fidel Castro’s lover. As Child summed it up, “it was two sisters, two dictators, one island.” Lena Hall gave us a gorgeous, searing rendition of “Where Do I Go From You?” an emotional ballad that brought to mind another Broadway favorite of mine, Evita’s “Another Suitcase in Another Hall.” I look forward to seeing his project come to fruition!
Going back to his Latin roots brought Child some
of his best known hits of the 1990s and 2000s—and the Ricky Martin medley! This fun, raucous, fiercely danceable mash-up included “Livin’ La Vida Loca,” “Shake Your Bon-Bon,” “She Bangs” and, of course, “The Cup of Life!” We got hot, synthesized horns, hot rhythms, hot stage lighting and super-hot vocals, all of which created a festive party atmosphere for the so-called “11 O’Clock Number” that had folks on their feet and dancing!
Now, with all this amazing music, I feel it’s essential that I mention the phenomenal band: Musical Director Bette Sussman (piano, keyboards, vocals), Tabitha Fair (vocals), Justin Benlolo (vocals, guitar), Ben Butler (guitar), Richard Hammond (bass), Alec Shantzis (keyboards) and Frank Vilardi (drums). Playing incredible arrangements by Clay Perry, the band absolutely rocked the room. And with all the amplified instrumentation, their blend and overall sound was never overpowering or distracting—a credit to the musicians and the Appel Room’s terrific sound engineer. The volume was perfect for a rock show, but also appropriate for the venue!
The show closed on a very personal note with Bon Jovi’s “You Want to Make a Memory,” which in Child’s hands felt like a love song to his husband of 30 years, as well as a big thank you to his audience.
In my days as a technical director in cabaret, I was lucky enough to work with well-known songwriters and see them perform the songs for which they were best known. I saw Amanda McBroom sing “The Rose,” Julie Gold sing “From a Distance” and Stephen Schwartz sing “Defying Gravity.” Those experiences were always special to me. Desmond Child has written a good portion of the soundtrack of my life and seeing his show was beyond special. It was epic!
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