Review: GMHC CABARET BENEFIT HONORING ALAN MENKEN Brings Music & Memories at Joe's Pub

A banquet of praise, memories, and songs were served up at Joe’s Pub recently, along with food and drinks to toast prolific and popular composer Alan Menken as he was presented with the Howard Ashman Award, named for the late lyricist who’d been his collaborator and friend.   

J. Harrison Ghee, with glee, kicked off the entertainment by singing one of their songs from Beauty and the Beast, “Be Our Guest,” which includes our favorite word (“cabaret”) in this line: “We'll prepare, and serve with flair, a culinary cabaret!”  It was also a musical cabaret – and a truly delicious one.  Notice the flair with rhyme: how “flair” rhymes with the second syllable of the preceding word “prepare” as well as a syllable in “cul-i-nar-y”... Howard Ashman’s artful way with words earned him a lasting legacy with works like Beauty and the Beast, Little Shop of Horror, and The Little Mermaid. His life was tragically cut short in 1991 from AIDS-related complications.  The Howard Ashman Award was presented by GMHC (Gay Men’s Health Crisis) and the evening was a fundraiser for that organization’s work, which includes helping those with HIV to get medical services and other necessities. It was a treat to be regaled with so many samples of the terrific Ashman and Menken songs by the array of performers.

Sarah Ashman Gillespie, sister of Howard, spoke eloquently, and quipped that Menken, already an "EGOT" (past winner of Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards), is now an "EGOTA," adding an "A" for this new honor. In his acceptance speech, Mr. Menken said he could add an “R” because he had the dubious distinction of once being (dis)honored with the snarky Razzie (as in raspberry) Award for the “Worst Song of the Year.” He shared warm memories of his much-missed writing partner and their time together.  And he followed this in grand style at the piano, singing and playing a dazzling mega-medley of songs he wrote with Ashman and others. Two of those accomplished “others” had grateful, flattering comments to contribute, too: Sir Tim Rice, on film, and

Stephen Schwartz coming on the stage to present the award (deferentially saying that, if it hadn’t been for the Menken collaborations with Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame in the mid-1990s, “I might have been known as just a guy who had a couple of musicals in the ’70s.”  By chance, my assigned seat happened to be directly behind the table shared by Mr. and Mrs. Menken, Mr. Schwartz, and Sarah Ashman Gillespie – so I could hardly help but witness their reactions: thoroughly enjoying the talent, responding to specific moments with smiles, the delight of surprise, catching each other’s eyes with or wiping away tears from those eyes at poignant moments. 

The program was hosted with brisk cheer and quips by drag artist Cacophony Daniels who also delivered three knockout performances of contrasting types.  They were: the heartbreaking reflection on the scourge of AIDS in Manhattan (about an eerily quiet “Sheridan Square”); a winking double act dripping with double entendre when joined by charismatic Mauricio Martinez for “Growing Boy”;  and, in the jaw-dropping evening’s finale, “Belle” (the lengthy opening number from Beauty and the Beast), playing ALL the many characters with voices low and high at great speed in music and movement. 

Claybourne Elder, with a twinkle in his eye, talked about growing up and feeling like an outsider and longing to be like others, similar to the title character of The Little Mermaid, bringing the wider meaning and much panache to “Part of Your World.” 

Little Shop of Horrors, currently back on the boards, was well represented with cast members Khadija Sankoh, Tiffany Renee Thompson, Morgan Bryant, and standby Johnny Newcomb, plus Kara Lindsay of Newsies who nailed “Somewhere That’s Green” in character with appropriate accent and naive sweetness for the role of Audrey, and “Suddenly Seymour” with Arielle Jacobs and Jelani Remy.  

The band – including Justin K. Brown, Mohan Ritsema, and Jeremy Yaddow – was led by the very able pianist Kyle Branzel who appeared to be having as smilingly swell a satisfied time as those at the aforementioned table in front of me and the surrounding patrons.  As for me, I left on such a happy high that I felt like I was flying on Aladdin’s magic carpet, which was all the more buoyed, we know, by the tunefulness of Alan Menken’s magical music.

If you'd like to support GMHC's work, you can learn more about them, including how to make a donation, on their website.

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