By Michael Portantiere***A cold winter evening was warmed up wonderfully by the latest edition of Charles Kirsch’s Backstage Babble Live, which recently landed at 54 Below for one memorable performance only.
The young producer-host of many previous events at 54, Kirsch has been absent in that guise since this past summer, for the excellent reason that he’s currently matriculated at Harvard University. This show presumably coincided with his winter break, and so, he, in happy collaboration with the ubiquitous musical director-pianist Michael Lavine, 
took the opportunity to present a host of Broadway veterans in a rich program of the kind of stuff they do best.
Opening the evening with a blast was Natascia Diaz, who paid homage to Chita Rivera with “Chief Cook and Bottle Washer” from The Rink. Next, Forbidden Broadway creator Gerard Alessandrini favored the crowd with samples of that long-running series’ spoofs of Broadway legends Yul Brynner and Rex Harrison. This was followed by a vocally and dramatically excellent performance of “Funny” from City of Angels by Adam Grupper, made all the more triumphant by his set-up for the number, in which he detailed the harrowing experience of cracking multiple times on the climactic high note when he was compelled to go on as an understudy in the Broadway production despite illness.
Annie McGreevey, an original cast member of the short-lived Moony Shapiro Songbook, delighted us with the audience-participation number “Bumpity Bump” from that show. Marc Kudisch, a veteran of m
ore than a dozen Broadway musicals, offered as a tribute to lyricists Betty Comden and Adolph Green, condensed versions of two of the songs he performed in the 2001 revival of Bells are Ringing, and his warm baritone was a pleasure to hear as always. Danielle Ferland, best known as Into the Woods’ Little Red Riding Hood, but also an ensemble member of another Stephen Sondheim musical, Sunday in the Park With George, sang “Children and Art” from the latter score so persuasively as to make us hope to see her in the role(s) of Dot/Marie in some future production.
Dick Scanlan, who’s now primarily a writer (Thoroughly Modern Millie, etc.), but who started out as a performer, resurrected some of his fab romp in the drag classic Pageant, a show this reviewer holds fond memories of having seen at the no-longer-extant Blue Angel on West 44th St., way back in 1991. Next, in a major shift of tone, Annie Golden and Will Roland teame
d up for a performance of “Unworthy of Your Love” from Sondheim’s Assassins that held the audience so rapt, one could hear a proverbial pin drop. It’s quite an achievement to put this odd song over effectively out of context of the show, and these two nailed it.
The score of another short-lived musical, My Favorite Year (Ahrens, Flaherty), was represented by Evan Pappas’s heartfelt recreation of the best song he got to sing as the show’s central character, “Larger Than Life.” Elena Shaddow, gifted with one of the most beautiful soprano voices ever to be heard in musical theater, gorgeously sang “Unusual Way” from Nine (Maury Yeston), with a nice vocal assist from Lavine. Jason Graae, not frequently seen on NYC stages nowadays (he lives in L.A.), made a strong case for an item from one of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s (deservedly) least-familiar shows, “The Man I Used to Be” from Pipe Dream, with a turn on his oboe.
The evening ended with two of its greatest highlights: Penny Fuller’s interpretation of “Send in the Clowns” from A Little Night Music, as emotionally moving and vocally lovely (if not more so) as any other I’ve ever witnessed, followed by Stephanie Pope and Mamie Duncan-Gibbs singing and strutting their way coolly through “Nowadays” from Chicago – in costume, thank you very much!
Although Kirsch is a font of musical theater knowledge, he kept his introductions and set-ups to a concise minimum throughout the proceedings in order to leave space for so many stellar performers to shine without fear of running overtime—a huge no-no at 54 Below, especially when there’s a late show after the early slot. Here’s looking forward to an abundance of future entertainments during Kirsch’s winter and summer breaks—and following his graduation.
Photos by Maryann Lopinto
