BWW Reviews: BROADWAY UNPLUGGED Unamplifies the Music of the Night

Having been sung on Broadway eight times a week for over 27 years, even longer on the West End and in multiple productions world-wide, Scott Siegel wasn't kidding when he called Phantom of The Opera's "Music of The Night," "the most amplified and electronically enhanced song of all time," before introducing Christopher Johnstone's beautiful unmiked rendition.

Once a year for a decade and a half now, Siegel's Broadway Unplugged has taken Town Hall audiences back to a Broadway that once was and one that might have been if theatre had not adapted the "wall of sound" style popularized by rock music.

Naturally, Andrew Lloyd Webber composed his Phantom score with the intention of using liberal doses of reverb and audio effects, but there's something extraordinarily textured and, yes, human when the words and melodies are left to be interpreted by a fine vocal artist such as Johnstone. For one thing, we hear the resonance that comes from using the full body, instead of mainly hearing the sound emitted from the mouth as picked up by a mic.

One can't help wondering when watching these concerts which performers might be bigger stars if amplification didn't allow untrained and small-voiced actors to be heard. Take, for example, Bill Daugherty, the husky character man with a trumpeting tenor and a Runyon-ish pathos who opened the evening with a soaring "Before The Parade Passes By." Likewise, Farrah Alvin, while unknown to the general public, is highly regarded among New York theatregoers and, like Daugherty, she crossed gender lines for a heart-stopping, passionate performance of "Gethsemane," written for the title character of Jesus Christ Superstar.

Those weren't the only non-traditional presentations that night. Downtown diva Molly Pope sang both male roles of The Fantasticks' "I Can See It" while John Easterlin juggled all six voices of Street Scene's rousing sextet, "Ice Cream." Jimmy James Sutherland rapid-fired taps to, of all songs, "My Favorite Things" and Jeffrey Denman and Caliaf St. Aubyn sang and swing danced to the Andrews Sisters' hit, "Bounce Me, Brother, With a Solid Four." Having Adriane Lenox duet Wicked's "For Good" with her daughter, Crystal Joy, added a touching new meaning to the lyric and having the nine-and-a-half-month pregnant Jenny Powers belt "(We Can Never Go) Back To Before" warranted some chuckles.

Ballads were sung in the classic musical theatre style by Erin Davie ("My White Knight"), William Michals ("Stranger In Paradise"), Quentin Earl Darrington ("Stars") and the team of Michals and Easterlin ("Softly, As In a Morning Sunrise") and with R&B flavors by Cheryl Freeman ("I Know Where I've Been") and Vivian Reed ("Believe in Yourself").

The second half included a trio of thrilling female high-belting performances from Stephanie J. Block ("The Writing On The Wall"), Jeannette Bayardelle ("And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going") and Carolee Carmello ("Don't Rain On My Parade").

The evening was directed by Siegel and Rick Hinkson and, as always, music directed by Ross Patterson, who provided accompaniment with his Little Big Band.

And, as always, the audiences' response was tremendous, giving the evening the feel of a sports event with loud, appreciative cheers for every performer. There is obviously an audience for unamplified musical theatre. It may not be right for all productions but with well-trained performers and Broadway houses built for natural acoustics, perhaps someday a producer or two, aside from Siegel, will see the value in pulling out some plugs.

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