By Marilyn Lester with photos by Maryann Lopinto***Completing his recent summer residency at 54 Below in An Enchanted Evening with Paulo Szot, the Brazilian-born superstar added another jewel to the crown of, as Duke Ellington would deem, a beyond category performer. Tony Award winner (South Pacific) and much fêted, Szot promised “a musical journey through romantic and touching Broadway standards.” Indeed it was—and for video and details, click here for Magda’s Video Moment.
This amplification spotlights the softer side of Szot. Blessed with a resonant, strong baritone, and capable of a rarity: equal talent and effectiveness in operatic and pop worlds, the big anthemic, leading-man numbers are inevitable: “Stars,” “I, Don Quixote,” “This Is the Moment,” “The Impossible Dream” and so on. But toning it down, Szot performed, evocatively and authentically, tunes such as the heart-rending “Besame Mucho” (Consuelo Velazquez) in the original Spanish, and Noel Coward’s equally evocative, “Some Day I’ll Find You.” Mixing it up thus, was a marvelous window into the total scope of Szot’s awesome talent.
Musical support was superb. Music director-pianist Luke Frazier created masterful arrangements full of creative ideas. Robert Morris (guitar), Greg Watkins (bass), and Steven Picataggio (drums) were augmented by a string section of violinists Dilyana Tsenov, Ina Paris and Laura Sacks and cellist Maria Jeffers. While Szot could no doubt sing to simplicity to a guitar, say, and knock us out, this lush ensemble was the cherry on the proverbial sundae.
