By Marilyn Lester***It seems that every so often an ethereal culture-loving presence—a genie? sprite? sorcerer? fairy?— sprinkles magic dust over a given artistic performance, resulting in something extraordinarily special. So it was with the New 
York Pops season opener, From Stage to Screen, with guest artists Hugh Panaro and Elizabeth Stanley, the magic elevating the Carnegie Hall, Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage into the stratosphere. Even the naturally ebullient, dynamic and charming Steven Reineke, Music Director and Conductor, seemed aglow with an extra touch of the magic wand.
This program of broad appeal, featuring big hits from Broadway musicals that garnered film versions, was devised and curated by Reineke—and what better way to open than with a Pops medley of the music of West Side Story—a masterwork by Leonard Bernstein (who also orchestrated a symphonic version arranged by Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal). This thrilling arrangement was by noted Maestro, the late Maurice Peress. Addressing an e
nthralled audience, Reineke explained the symbiotic relationship of musicals, first originating on the stage, and then given another life on the big screen. Throughout the concert he offered origin stories and often unknown tidbits of information on each musical chosen for the program. And many stage musicals, he also noted, came by way of literature. The Pops also swung musical excerpts from Fiddler on the Roof and played a madcap “Jellicle Ball” (Andrew Lloyd Webber) from Cats.
The Pops couldn’t have featured a more ideal pair than Panaro and Stanley, both Broadway stalwarts and especially adept at the big anthemic numbers as well as softer, balladic tunes and story songs. Among Panaro’s many credits are turns as Marius in Les Misérables (Broadway debut) and a ph
enomenal run in The Phantom of the Opera, performing in it over 2,500 times, including the 25th Anniversary production. He was cast by Harold Prince as both The Phantom and Raoul in the Broadway production. So naturally he sang a powerful “Music of the Night” (Andrew Lloyd Webber, Charles Hart, Richard Stilgoe). An operatic baritenor, Panaro also performed an evocative “Bring Him Home” (Claude Michel Schönberg, Alain Boublil). With verve he completed the Second Act overture of Oklahoma! numbers with a cheerful “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning” (Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II).
The award-winning Stanley recently starred in the Alanis Morissette musical Jagged Little Pill, played “April” in the revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Company and “Vera” in the City Center’s gala production of Pal Joey, among many other roles. She too possesses and operatic voice: a soprano with range. Her sultry rendition of “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” ( Jule Styne, Leo Robin: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) was 
beautifully counterbalanced with a thoughtful interpretation of Stephen Sondheim’s story song, “Children Will Listen” (Into the Woods), as well as a deeply evocative “Unusual Way” (Maury Yeston, Nine).
Together, the duo displayed great chemistry in Jason Robert Brown’s tear-jerker from The Bridges of Madison County, “One Second and a Million Miles,” closing Act One; and on the other end of the emotional spectrum, closing Act Two with a spirited “Suddenly Seymour” (Alan Menken, Howard Ashman) from Little Shop of Horrors. The “surprise” encore was a sensitive, emotionally affecting rendition of the aching “Somewhere” (Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim), bookending this remarkable concert with a number from West Side Story.
Photos by Fadi Kheir
