Review: CURTAINS & CADENZAS at 54 Below

So, what would you expect from a cabaret show at 54 Below with the title Curtains & Cadenzas? Well, we can logically guess that there’s a connection to theatre and musical flourishes. Right. Add another couple of words  — “college” and “classy”  — to double the alliteration of the name and you would be impressed to know that the vocalists and musicians are all college-aged and, although they’d soon be “back to school,” in their classes, their appearance in Manhattan on May 24 at 54 Below was a class act. Now mix in the jazz. They look great, they sound great, they’re on their mark, and ready for their set. Go, team, go! Most notably, they are members of the younger generation who are genuinely super-comfortable with Golden Age musical theatre and movie songs that some music fans know more as jazz standards that are stand-alone classics making up the Great American Songbook. 

Drop in on many other curated programs and open mics  featuring Broadway material in some nightclubs and piano bars — with singers and/or students not necessarily old enough to order a drink there – and what will you most likely hear? Songs with more “contemporary”-styled music, often featuring young characters, from musicals that premiered or were revived in the last 20 years: The Last Five Years, Dear Evan Hansen, Hamilton, Waitress, Wicked, Mean Girls, In the Heights, Spring Awakening, Little Shop of Horrors. But that classy C&C company chose classics from Broadway eras long before they were born, but generally wore these musical garments oh-so comfortably, as if they were custom-tailored or like favorite old sweaters.    

For regulars at venues where the usual accompaniment is just a piano or a trio, having a larger group of players felt like a true treat — all the more so because they accomplished, making engaging music, with arrangements that respected the original architectures and flavors of the show tunes, but had their own vitality and creativity.  Known as the Pocket Change Combo, the members of the quintet — all still college students — were a pleasure to hear and watch.

They are led by charismatic guitarist Tyler J. Landusky, who also wears the hats of music director and show producer. I don’t know what his middle name is, but that initial “J” may as well stand for Jazz, since his considerable contributions are so wonderfully jazzy in an accessible way that makes the cool music be the kind that can please both the Broadway traditionalist and the jazz fan who wants some adventurousness and exciting explorations. It’s alive and juicy. His affinity for musical theatre repertoire is also informed by his experience as an actor-singer in several musicals. It was just two years ago that he was named in an article on this website when he was among those chosen  by a panel of judges for the nationwide competition on BroadwayWorld's “Next On Stage: Season 5,” as one of the “High School and College Top 15.

His splendid colleagues are the top-drawer pianist Joshua Gorlin, sax man Chase Cassidy, and two fellows named William: drummer William Nicoll and bassist William Calohan. The terrific total is more than the sum of the individual primo parts. 

Material from the earliest decade – the 1930s – got much more than a cameo appearance. In fact, it was the decade most represented by far, containing seven of the program’s dozen delights. The tearful “Body and Soul” from 1930 got suitable gravitas as intoned by Daniel Loughlin. That year also brought George & Ira Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm” from the musical Girl Crazy, introduced by Ethel Merman in her star-making appearance. The Gershwins’ 1937 movie number, “I Can’t Be Bothered Now” was included in the latter-day stage piece called Crazy for You, a kind of “cousin” of Girl Crazy. Zachary Johnson delivered the goods for both. Also dating from the 1930s were the concert’s opener: the title song of Anything Goes (Cole Porter), another classic written for the aforementioned Merman, brightly blasted at 54 Below by Tali Goldwasser, whose rendition of “My Funny Valentine” from 1937’s Babes in Arms had sweet charm. The same score’s “The Lady Is a Tramp” got a lively treatment from Finch Silverman, who scored again with the long-lived mega-standard “All The Things You Are” from the short-lived Very Warm for May from 1939.

The night’s only non-solo vocal was an appealing pairing of Charlotte Scanlon and Daniel Loughlin on “Old Devil Moon” from 1947’s Finian’s Rainbow.  Another duet or something with more voices would have been welcome.  But there was a fair amount of solo energy and stage presence to fill the air.  

Richard Rodgers’ melodies were heard in four selections:  the previously mentioned pair from Babes in Arms with Lorenz Hart’s lyrics; “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” from their 1940 score to Pal Joey presented by Sophia Theokas (with a smile, but without the racier words in a couple of its many verses); and that Rodgers & Hammerstein favorite, “My Favorite Things” (1959) given a warm whirl by Charlotte Scanlon. Another sample from the 1950s showed up, with Miss Theokas giving her all to “All of You” from Silk Stockings (1955, Cole Porter again) and the “most recent” number brought us to no later year than 1960 for “Never Will I Marry” (Frank Loesser, from Greenwillow), another strong entry from Daniel Loughlin.     

The musicians often play and hold residencies most often in Orange County, NY when not in the Big Apple. To stretch a pun to reference their two locations, comparing this kind of group to a run-of-the-mill offering at a less prestigious club would be like comparing Apples and Oranges. There’s no comparison.  

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Find the musicians on Instagram @pocketchangecombo.

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