Review of City Center Gala

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 10/26/14 at 4:16pm

I'm going to the NY City Center Gala performance tomorrow night. Just the performance, I decided to skip the $10,000 per plate dinner afterwards.

Checking their Internet site, I found that half of the balcony, $30 and $60 tickets, was empty and there were about 20 good $115 dollar tickets left in the mezzanine.

I thought that had quite a bit of star power with Brian Stokes Mitchell, Kelly O'Hara, Laura Osnes, Kate Baldwin, Paulo Szot on the vocals. It's certainly a mainstream show featuring all Richard Rodgers, with both Hart and Hammerstein. (I swear, there must have been two composers named Richard Rodgers. The same man couldn't have composed the music with Larry Hart and with Oscar.)

Should I be surprised by this? Shouldn't the City Center at least give away the remaining tickets so the performers don't come out and look at a lot of empty seats?

Updated On: 10/28/14 at 04:16 PM

[HorseTears]

Posted: 10/26/14 at 4:28pm

God, I don't envy NY promoters. Is there any city with more competition in terms of live events? That sounds like a fantastic roster of performers and such obviously great material. Wonder why it hasn't sold.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 10/26/14 at 6:24pm

If they just gave the tix away, then even fewer would purchase them and just wait.

[Melissa25]

Posted: 10/26/14 at 10:46pm

I am looking forward to this. I expect it to be heavenly.

[fyeahmaria]

Posted: 10/27/14 at 6:01am

I've noticed this to be quite normal at NYCC, both encores performances I've been to this year I've sat in the balcony, and both times it was less than half full, even though it's the cheapest tickets.

[adam.peterson44]

Posted: 10/27/14 at 7:40am

I love the performers on the roster and the work of Rodgers and Hammerstein. If they had promoted this on BWW about a month or so ago i would have booked a weekend trip to NYC and taken today off as a vacation day primarily to attend this concert (plus see other shows on the weekend), but as it is i only found out about it last week and it was too late to schedule a weekend away. Oh, well.

I hope the lucky folks who can attend enjoy the performance!

[jayinchelsea]

Posted: 10/27/14 at 7:56am

Great roster of performers, it's true, but how many times can we listen to R&H (either one) and still be expected to spend a lot of money? At least a revue has some theme to it, but a group of singers doing the same old songs? Too many benefits these days (at least one or two every Monday, so they can catch the stars on their nights off from the theatre), and frankly I'd rather hear these songs in context (well, maybe not the Rodgers & Hammerstein ones so much, those shows have been done to death, but Rodgers & Hart, absolutely).

[mamaleh]

Posted: 10/27/14 at 10:25am

I got a pretty decent mezz seat for $32. Looking forward especially to hear what Steven Pasquale will sing. Several years ago he practically brought down the house at the Actors' Fund "Chance and Chemistry" salute to Frank Loesser with his rendition of "Never Will I Marry." That was goosebump time.

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 10/27/14 at 2:06pm

If you're not a Richard Rodgers fan, you're in for a lot of annoyance for the rest of your theater-loving life. His songs just don't go away. "My Funny Valentine" for instance, was written over 75 years ago for a shallow and forgotten musical, yet every new vocalist just has to record it.

Ella, Sinatra, Streisand, Julie Andrews, Bobby Darin, Sara Vaughan, Etta James, Al Jarreau, Marvin Gaye, Frankie Valli, Betty Buckley, Michael Buble, Chris Botti, Rod Stewart, Kristin Chenoweth, Carly Simon, Michael Feinstein, Linda Ronstadt, Judy Collins, Sara Vaughan, the Supremes, Ann Hampton Callaway, Chaka Khan, Barbara Cook, Tierney Sutton, and about 50 more.

Same deal with "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered."

[HorseTears]

Posted: 10/27/14 at 7:26pm

I don't think that's what Jay was saying at all, OlBlueEyes.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 10/27/14 at 7:32pm

lol

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 10/28/14 at 4:52am

So this morning I see that there's an open seat in the very first row of City Center. Although I already have a mezzanine seat, I go for this seat. I like to be close. Since I'll never be near any of these stars due to talent, getting a front row seat will have to do.

I approach the theater and find myself running a gauntlet of people asking me if I have an extra ticket. Do they want to buy it? No, they want a "comp". This ragged older man approaches me and I remember that I actually do have my original ticket being held at the box office. I pick up the ticket and give it to him. When he gives the ticket to the ticket taker, he is greeted like an old friend. Asked how he got the ticket this time. I feel like I've been had.

At orchestra level I can tell I'm at a gala and in an inappropriate place since all the women are wearing these $10,000 a plate gowns. The two seats next to me are taken by a distinguished and well-dressed man with a slight accent and his three or four year old daughter, whom he is doting on. He says something about these being the last minute "house" seats that he was given. So I think he may be Somebody. But I don't ask. He is friendly and likes having his daughter complimented.

The performance starts at 7:00 and is over at 8:45 with no intermission. About twenty minutes of the time is taken by the various dignitaries praising each other.

Finally the entertainment starts with the Encores' orchestra playing the overture to Oklahoma. They are miked. Why does an orchestra in an intimate theater have to be miked? What did they do in Beethoven's time?

The least known talent, Heidi Blickenstaff and Nick Cordero, are first up, and given some of the weakest material. They sing the duet "Ev'rything I've Got," a pretty witty old Rodgers and Hart tune. They are OK but don't project much star power. Nick is later given the most obscure song of the night, "Dear Old Syracuse," from a Rogers and Hart musical that has much stronger material. Heidi comes back later to sing "The Gentleman is a Dope," the best known song from the three musicals "Allegro," "Me and Juliet" and "Pipe Dream." (I don't count "No Other Love" since the melody was lifted from Rodgers' score for the World War II documentary "Victory at Sea.")

How can there be five or six songs from "The King and I" that are so well known and so covered and so often broadcast, while there is only one half-assed "hit" from those other three shows? I can't figure it out.

So the number two vocalist is Laura Osnes. So petite and pretty and sweet (honestly sweet). I'm glad I'm in the front row. Her soprano does not have the power of O'Hara or Cheno or Luker. But it is so - sweet - and suits her perfectly. She sings an entirely appropriate song, "It Might As Well Be Spring," and, later, a song you probably would not associate with her, a Frank and Ella song, "The Lady is a Tramp." Anything she was singing that night I was buying.

The biggest audience reaction of the night is for Jared Grimes and Irina Dvorovenko for the ballet from "On Your Toes." Hell, the reaction is really for Dvorovenko, a thirteen year principal dancer at the ABT who made her musical debut in, hold on, the Encores' production of "On Your Toes." She is just stunningly beautiful (once again I'm glad I'm in the first row) and moves so gracefully while doing incredible things with her body. It was like she was saying to the audience, "OK, all these other performers have vocal chords and given a little training can come out here and sing, but can any of them do what I just showed you?" She received a lot of "bravos" for her trouble.

Finally the heavy guns rolled out as Kelli O'Hara and Paulo Szot sang the duet, no not that one, "People Will Say We're in Love." They still make a great couple and Kelli is so comfortable out there making little gestures to the audience. Maybe she was carrying just a bit of weight.

Kelli gave a preview of the coming "The King and I" with a lovely rendition of "Hello, Young Lovers." She seemed to be playing with putting a little British accent in there.

Brian Stokes Mitchell made his only appearance, but it was a big one. "Soliloquy" I don't recall him ever playing the role, but he sang it like he had sung it countless times before. He had all the gestures and body movements down cold. It received a very warm response from the audience.

Who got the second biggest reception after Dvorovenko? Paulo Szot, pulling out his Tony winning masterpiece, "This Nearly Was Mine." He is legit. He then launched into "Some Enchanted Evening." Kelli walked out from stage right and joined in. Here again I was annoyed that everyone was miked. She was over on my right with her mouth open, but her voice was coming from the middle of the stage.

No matter. The rest of the whole cast joined them on stage and all joined in. Then it was off to the $10,000 per plate dinner, except for me.

[haterobics]

Posted: 10/28/14 at 6:11am

What did Pasquale sing?

[StageStruckLad]

Posted: 10/28/14 at 9:17am

OlBlueEyes, I think that's the first time anyone has ever called City Center an "intimate theater!" LOL

There were too many speeches last night, although the honorees did donate $1 million dollars to City Center, so I would say that they earned that praise.

The highlight for me was Mitchell's "Soliloquy," which was a master class in singing and acting. Would love to see him tackle the role of Billy some time.

Kelli's "Hello Young Lovers" was gorgeous. Can't wait to see her in the role next year.

And Shuler Hensley did a great job recreating his Tony-winning role of Jud from Oklahoma! and sang a powerful rendition of "Lonely Room."

Finally, two singers came out to do the one non-Rodgers song, "Indian Love Call," which was lovely. The singers weren't listed in the program, so I don't know who they were.

A very nice evening, but I wish it had been longer.

[Mr. Musical]

Posted: 10/28/14 at 9:41am

Pasquale wasn't there. I don't know what happened to him.

[mamaleh]

Posted: 10/28/14 at 10:16am

Yes, I was really annoyed that Pasquale did not appear, as I'd been looking forward to his appearance. Seems there had been a very recent change in the lineup that I wasn't aware of. He had tweeted a strong hint that he'd be doing "Soliloquy," so when I heard its opening strains and did not see him, I realized he was likely absent. Of course, Stokes was great---but I was still disappointed, even though the show was truly enjoyable. I guess these last-minute changes happen a lot, but they still irk.

Updated On: 10/28/14 at 10:16 AM

[haterobics]

Posted: 10/28/14 at 11:58am

I was really hoping for some Pasquale-O'Hara pairing, so without that, I made the right choice staying home. As someone said, there are too many options all the time in NYC.

[Melissa25]

Posted: 10/28/14 at 12:25pm

Lovely evening and nice to hear that this Gala benefit raised 2.1 Million for City Center. One million of that came from one of the honorees of the evening, Lew Frankfort -Executive Chairman for Coach. Much of the money will help City Center Education which provides accessible arts education to NYC schools and communities.

Highlights for me included both dance numbers, "Hello, Young Lovers" by Kelli O'Hara, "My Heart Stood Still" by Kate Baldwin and "Soliloquy" by Brian Stokes Mitchell. He absolutely tore it up. Kelli sounded wonderful in character with British accent. Can't wait for The King and I in April. I just wished they had given another number for Kate to perform.

Not sure if JayinChelsea would have been happy with this line-up of songs but I for one could have heard some of the old standards vs. some of the more obscure selections chosen. I am also glad everything was miked or it would not have been fun from my mezzanine seat in that barn.

[Melissa25]

Posted: 10/28/14 at 12:37pm

Now I know why Kate Baldwin only sang one song at City Center Gala. BWW just posted story that she was also at the Dramatists Guild Fund Gala last night. Wow. I really have to send kudos to all these performers who do all of this charity work on their night off.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/28/14 at 1:26pm

How was Heidi's "Gentleman Is a Dope"?

[Mr. Musical]

Posted: 10/28/14 at 1:34pm

It was good. She didn't quite shine like Laura or Kelli, but it was good.

[Melissa25]

Posted: 10/28/14 at 2:19pm

She was very good. We commented that we would definitely like to see more of her on Broadway. She does comedy well as evidenced by her one shoe on/off section that was in the "Ev'rything I've Got" number with Nick Cordero. It made me think of her fantastic rendition of "Big D" with Jay Armstrong Johnson at "The Most Happy Fella" last April at Encores!

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 10/28/14 at 9:43pm

I guess it's necessary to mike the performers these days, but an orchestra? All these beautiful instruments with unique sounds mixed together in an electronic pot before their sound reaches the audience.

Can I call the Richard Rodgers intimate? I saw If/Then at that theater, and if there is a current performer whom you don't think would need amplification it would probably be Idina Menzel. Yet, sitting up in the lower balcony, her voice was so amplified that it was plain distorted, especially in the higher registers. Equivalent to the sound of a band playing for a dance in a high school gym.

I should give Heidi credit for her dexterity. She kicked off one shoe early in her duet and spent another three minutes or so moving around the stage in one five inch heel and one bare foot. I don't know how these women do it with both five inch heels.

I didn't mention Kate Baldwin. She was lovely and the 1927 ballad "My Heart Stood Still" seemed as fresh as if written last week.

Lorenz Hart doesn't get that much attention. There was a biopic "Words and Music" that made other biopics look like the Gospel truth and several biographies. But people don't seem to like to get too close to his sad story. A hundred years after his death thousands will still be singing and hearing and recording his lyrics.

Got to go. On the Sirius Sinatra channel Streisand is singing "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered."

Updated On: 10/28/14 at 09:43 PM

[yfs]

Posted: 10/28/14 at 10:35pm

The Encores! Orchestra has always been amplified (for the last two decades!), and City Center has been employing amplification since the 1940s, when amplification was pretty primitive. It was not built as a theater (it was a Shriners hall) and the acoustics have never been good. It currently seats over 2200 -- bigger, I believe, than any Broadway theater.