By Marilyn Lester***On the debut night of 54 Sings Broadway’s Greatest Hits! in 2015, a hurricane was just subsiding. On this particular Saturday night, a meteorlogically historic arctic freeze was coming to an end. Both nights were sell-outs, the first presaging the success of the series. And as for the latter, 100 performances on, creator, producer, director and host Scott Siegel could feel justifiably proud of packing houses for these past seven-plus years.
The title of the series says it all: Broadway’s greatest hits, in which a varying cast of prime talent vocalizes classics and favorites from the rich history of the Great White Way. For this 100th outing, Siegel signed on 14 performers to sing one song each that typified greatness. They were accompanied by music director Andrew Bourgoin at the keys.
But for full transparency, there were actually two numbers that were not performed on the Rialto. From the film Inside Daisy Clover, Kylie Heyman offered “You’re Gonna Hear From Me” (André and Dory Previn), a tune Siegel proclaimed sounds like it should have been on Broadway. “Flight,” a haunting, stirring number (and a particular favorite of Siegel’s) was emotively sung by operatic soprano Rose Chamblee. “Flight” was written by Broadway composer Craig Carnelia and introduced in 1994 by Broadway actress and cabaret star, Karen Akers. Another stirring number, “Anthem” (Benny Anderson, Björn Ulvaeus, Tim Rice) from Chess was sung by Michael Winther. In its lyric about homeland and love of country—dedicated to the people of Ukraine—Winther gave a master class in “how it’s done.”
Was it an enchanted shirt? Tony Award® nominee Willy Falk 
appeared in the actual shirt he wore on stage as the original Chris in Miss Saigon. After delivering an amusing tale about the 
backstory and provenance of the shirt, he entered deeply into the character of Chris and sang a stunning “Why, God, Why?” (Claude-Michael Schönberg, Alain Boubil). This demanding song has become a Falk signature tune and although he’s sung it many, many times over the years, this rendition was magical—one of his most compelling and moving yet. It was a window into the performance that earned him his 1991 Tony nomination for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical.
There were also two more songs in which the character of the musical addresses God. On the light side, Stephen DeRosa delighted with all the bells and whistles of attitude and movement built into “If I Were a Rich Man” (Jerry Brick, Richard Maltby, Jr., Sheldon Harnick) from the now iconic Fiddler on the Roof. On the dark side, one of the most vocally and dramatically demanding of tunes, “Gethsemane” (Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice) from Jesus Christ Super
star, was ably sung by Jared Goodwin. This young performer, who has Biblical experience in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, showed impressive potential to mine the song for even more in his rendition.
Among this collection of superb talent singing superlative songs, were two tappers, Luke Hawkins and Kendrick Jones, who thrilled with their footwork and expressive choreography. Jenny Lee Stern reprised her magnificent “Cell Block Tango” (John Kander, Fred Ebb). This burlesque from Chicago is sung by six characters. Stern sings all the parts with perfect timing, amusing choreographic riffs and deadpan seriousness, which elevates the 
number into a perfect gem of a farce. Additionally, Stella Katherine Cole offered “The Trolley Song” (Hugh Martin, Ralph Blane), Garrison Hunt opened with “This Is the Moment” (Frank Wildhorn, Leslie Bricusse) and the resonant Ryan Knowles offered “The Best Is Yet to Come” (Cy Colemam, Carolyn Leigh) and “I Am What I Am” (Jerry Herman). Wrapping up a stellar evening of song, the operatic four-time Grammy Award winner, John Easterlin sang a beautiful, unplugged “Without a Song” (Vincent Youmans, Billy Rose, Edward Eliscu). Not only was it glorious to be reminded of the beauty of the human voice au naturel, but as Siegel so rightly noted, the title of the tune is what gives life its meaning—and a fine example of why we were all gathered together in this room on this night.
Congratulations to Scott Siegel and behind the scenes partner, Barbara Siegel, for 100 editions (and counting) of the soulfully essential Broadway’s Greatest Hits.
