Eastern CT Symphony's 'From the Met to Broadway'

Don Pippin opened "From the Met to Broadway," conducting the Eastern Connecticut Symphony in the mother of all overtures, playing a medley that included dozens of Broadway standards, from the 'Golden Age' through the present.  The 60-piece Symphony played as one, creating a sound that enveloped the 1,000+ audience members at the Garde Arts Center in New London, CT.
 
Opera singer Kip Wilborn (representing the 'Met' for this portion of the series), joined Broadway vocalist William Michals and Rachel York, opening with a rousing rendition of 'Give My Regards to Broadway'.
 
Each of the singers took a solo, and then came together for a well-constructed trio arrangement of 'Anything You Can Do' from Annie Get Your Gun.  Everyone on stage had a chance to show off, York singing 'sweeter' and 'higher' and Wilborn and Michals vying for singing 'longer'.
 
Pippin introduced and conducted 'Orange Blossom Special', which he explained as being from the opera of his childhood in Tennessee, The Grand Ol' Opry.  The orchestra sprinkled snippets of 'Chattanooga Choo-Choo' and 'Working on the Railroad' into the arrangement, with apparent ease.
 
Act one ended on a strong symphonic note with a tribute to Richard Rodgers.
 
Michals opened act two with 'Be Our Guest' from Beauty and the Beast.  Wilborn and York joined for the end of the number.  
 
The Beauty and the Beast theme continued as Michals sang  'If I Can't Love Her', a song that he sang in the role of the Beast on Broadway.
 
Wilborn then took the stage to perform a, technically beautiful, version of  'Being Alive' from Company.
 
York continued the evening, finally getting her "star" turn, singing "What Ever Happened to my Part" from Spamalot.  York played the "Diva" to the extreme, getting a big reaction from the audience.
 
Another round of solos followed, including more music from Disney musicals and a song from Ragtime for York.  The evening ended with Michals singing 'Music of the Night' from Phantom of the Opera.  York and Wiborn joined Michals and Pippin for their encore, 'Circle of Life' from The Lion King.
 
Three strong vocalists shared the 90-minute program, taking one song at a time, each on stage for only a few minutes at a time. This gave the evening a choppy feel.  There was an attempt to ease the transitions by having vocalists share the last few bars of a song as a duet or trio.  Unfortunately, the spotlight operator did not have or could not follow the cues, and the singers often found themselves singing in the dark, waiting for the spotlight to find them. This made the, already non-organic transitions, more awkward.

Watching the legendary Don Pippin conduct the Eastern Connecticut Symphony would have been a terrific evening on its own.  Strong performances from Wilborn, Michals and York make me think that any one of them could have carried this show on their own.  All of these performers together, made for an evening of Broadway that New London, CT rarely gets to experience.

Photo by Jan Nargi: William Michals, Rachel York and Kip Wilborn at The Eastern Connecticut Symphony's "From the Met to Broadway"

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