NY Pops Gala '17 Honoring Kelli O'Hara and Bartlett Sher

[DramaTeach]

Posted: 5/1/17 at 10:44pm

The evening's honorees were Kelli O'Hara and Bartlett Sher, so there were lots of beautiful songs to be sung.  Bridges of Madison County, was never one of my favorites, but the suite made me realize how lush and gorgeous that score really is.  Brian D'Arcy James, who I've seen live multiple times but never in Sweet Smell of Success, the show from which he sang a song, was next.  His performance blew me away.  I didn't realize his voice had that much power in it.

Other standouts were Isabel Leonard with a beautiful opera number, Adam Kantor with his spirited version of "Miracle of Miracles," a medley from South Pacific with the kids from Camp Broadway, Steven Pasquales "It All Fades Away" and Ruthie Ann Miles' "Something Wonderful."  Realistically, every performance was wonderful in its own way.  Ashley Park filled in for Laura Osnes due to a " last minute scheduling issue."  Laura was in the program and everything.  On my way home, I was looking at pictures from tonight's Met Ball, and it seems that that was Ms. Osnes' scheduling issue. Would like to know what went on there.

It was another really beautiful evening with the Pops filled with lots of great theatrical music and voices.

Updated On: 5/1/17 at 10:44 PM

[dres40]

Posted: 5/2/17 at 12:04pm

I was there last night and totally agree...it was a lovely evening.  Brian d'Arcy James was so great and I loved  Danny Burstein doing "There Is Nothing Like a Dame" .

The best part for me was the kids from Camp Broadway since my daughter was part of that group. 

This is our 2nd year going to the Gala concert and really enjoyed the evening.   In the future I would consider going even if my daughter is not part of Camp Broadway.

[jcrispee2]

Posted: 5/2/17 at 2:23pm

I was in attendance last night as well and couldn't agree more. The whole night was fantastic! My favorite moment was Kelli coming out at the end to sing "Fable" from The Light in the Piazza! She sounded amazing and so wish she gets to play the role of Margaret sometime down the line in a revival of the show! 

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 5/2/17 at 4:08pm

It was a lovely show with a very enthusiastic audience that loudly clapped and cheered everything. Kelly was as stunning in her black gown as she had been in her red gown for her own solo debut last year. Not to take away from my own favorable impression, but there were a few matters that kept it off my all-time greats list.

The dinner dance after the concert, for the people who had the real money, kept the program to one and a half hours. Pretty abbreviated for $160 and $100 parquet seats. But I knew about this in advance. Nevertheless, I was in parquet center row Q and there were only five people in row P just in front of me.

The great number of talented performers who came limited almost everyone to one number. Danny Burstein sang "Nothing Like a Dame" with the boys as Seabees holding up their part. But it would have been nice to have him sing "If I Were a Rich Man" from Fiddler, or even "Sunrise, Sunset" with Judy Kuhn. I had never seen Ruthie Ann Miles perform anywhere except The King and I, and was really looking forward to hearing her performance. But time limited her to "Something Wonderful," which was just that.

Marin Mazzie looked great and sounded great as one of the few to participate in two numbers: "Hello, Young Lovers" and, with Judy Kuhn and Rebecca Luker, "Make Someone Happy." Then the major donors were off to the dinner dance, and I caught the Q train.

Oops, one more observation. Laura Osnes was expected to perform at the concert, to sing "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair." Maestro Reineke announced that Laura had to cancel at the last moment. He seemed to hunt around for a reason for a moment and then just let it slide. Ashley Park (Tuptim) was pulled in at the last moment as a replacement. No time to even switch the performance insert.

Then on arriving home I saw photos of Laura at the Met Gala that same night, dressed in a gown that did not flatter her figure.

Sorry for the descent into gossip, but as Jane Austen wrote: “For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors, and laugh at them in our turn?”

Updated On: 5/2/17 at 04:08 PM

[NYadgal]

Posted: 5/2/17 at 4:50pm

Her change in plan was our gain, as I thought Ashley Park was wonderful in her performance!  

I agree with your review, and also knew it would be a brief(er) program, due to the dinner following the performance, but it felt quite short.  And, with each performance I yearned for more.

Kelli was gorgeous and sang beautifully (coming off of two nights of performing Babes in Toyland)  In the end, for me, it was a beautiful and wonderful and celebratory evening. 

Updated On: 5/3/17 at 04:50 PM

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 5/2/17 at 10:24pm

Thanks for the recap, OlBlueEyes. After a so-so NY Pops season, I feel comfortable having skipped this hearing the song list. And since I can't imagine Laura would be any better than she was in the full production of South Pacific, you were lucky you missed her. (In case it's not clear, I thought she was horrible as Nellie.) 

[elphaba.scares.me]

Posted: 5/2/17 at 10:42pm

Just read a piece about the Met Gala that said Osnes was invited on short notice after Anna Wintour saw her show last week.

Sorry, kids, but if that happens while you're trying to promote your show in a busy season, you drop everything and go to the gala. It's one of the most photographed events of the year. Any agent or publicist worth their salt would advise her that someone else can step in and perform one number in a salute to Kelli O'Hara. Although I'm sure she was disappointed that she had to drop out.

 

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 5/2/17 at 11:11pm

VintageSnarker said: "Thanks for the recap, OlBlueEyes. After a so-so NY Pops season, I feel comfortable having skipped this hearing the song list. And since I can't imagine Laura would be any better than she was in the full production of South Pacific, you were lucky you missed her. (In case it's not clear, I thought she was horrible as Nellie.) "

I was glad that I went, but it was a pretty close call. All the energy and enthusiasm in the Hall does wash over you and give you a lift. But when I saw the original performers' list I didn't have in mind a newly commissioned orchestral work for the Pops or Matthew Broderick singing "Blah Blah Blah" from Nice Work. I'll be going into my third season as a Pops subscriber and I have good seats: Row E, Parquet Right, two seats off the left aisle. So I sell a couple of shows to help defray the cost. 

I sold my tickets for the last one on singer songwriters and I never sold tickets so fast for so much. And even the balcony of Carnegie Hall was sold out. My guess for the draw was Jesse Mueller, an up and comer. It could have been just the theme of the show that made it so popular.

I wish I had seen Laura in South Pacific, so I could judge for myself. I couldn't imagine anyone so relentlessly upbeat (a good thing mainly) expressing all the emotions that Nellie must express starting with the revelation of Emile's two children. But South Pacific was such an expensive and prestigious production that I didn't believe that Bartlett Sher would have brought her back a second time to replace Kelli if she had not been good the first time during Kelli's maternity leave. And the show lasted another seven months with her.

[NYadgal]

Posted: 5/3/17 at 12:00am

http://www.theatermania.com/video/matthew-broderick-and-more-sing-in-celebration-of-_1244.html

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 5/3/17 at 2:27am

Only three people have messaged me in seven years, so I'm not in the habit of checking. I just noticed them tonight.

Love the caption on that "Mathew Broderick and more sing..." and it kicks off with Kelli and is mostly downhill from there. 

As a compulsive reader, I picked up "The Bridges of Madison County" at my parents home and I think read it all the way through. But I pretty much dismissed it as a "woman's book," and I'm sure most readers were women. Looking at it now, that premise - a war bride finding herself with deep second thoughts many years later - was quite original and good enough to hang a story on. 

I didn't see the musical, but I write this because, having been reminded of the power of Kelli's voice on a mission, it seems essential that those soaring vocals admired by all on YouTube are not lost. Kelli O'Hara is becoming a pretty powerful person on Broadway. Some day, maybe Encores, maybe a concert version at a gala, I hope it comes back. Maybe with a cleaned up book that doesn't devote as much time to the secondary characters who we don't have to know very well.

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 5/3/17 at 9:35am

OlBlueEyes said: "I wish I had seen Laura in South Pacific, so I could judge for myself. I couldn't imagine anyone so relentlessly upbeat (a good thing mainly) expressing all the emotions that Nellie must express starting with the revelation of Emile's two children. But South Pacific was such an expensive and prestigious production that I didn't believe that Bartlett Sher would have brought her back a second time to replace Kelli if she had not been good the first time during Kelli's maternity leave. And the show lasted another seven months with her."

Obviously it's been a while and I didn't write reviews back then but that performance of South Pacific is seared into my memory as the greatest discrepancy between what I paid for tickets and the experience I got in return. My family splurged on I think third row center seats and we didn't know Kelli wasn't in the show anymore. But it wasn't just disappointment with not seeing Kelli. Laura was actively bad. She read far too young next to Paolo, her voice sounded very thin, and there was no depth to her performance. That was back when I saw maybe one or two shows a year with my family so having such a negative experience was very deflating. I did love the rest of the production and cast though and I still enjoy the album. 

[nealb1]

Posted: 5/3/17 at 9:50am

It was a fantastic evening! 

[iWannaBEaSedaris]

Posted: 5/3/17 at 11:30am

Updated On: 7/20/17 at 11:30 AM

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 5/3/17 at 9:38pm

elphaba.scares.me said: "Just read a piece about the Met Gala that said Osnes was invited on short notice after Anna Wintour saw her show last week.

Sorry, kids, but if that happens while you're trying to promote your show in a busy season, you drop everything and go to the gala. It's one of the most photographed events of the year. Any agent or publicist worth their salt would advise her that someone else can step in and perform one number in a salute to Kelli O'Hara. Although I'm sure she was disappointed that she had to drop out.

Thanks for clearing that up. It really made no sense that Laura would offend three powerful people, Sher, O'Hara and Reineke, by taking a powder. I'm sure that she got the blessing of everyone to go. BANDSTAND will need a lot of help to succeed before this current generation of theatergoers not very familiar with the music and dance of the fairly short-lived swing era.