Review: THE NEW YORK POPS 43RD BIRTHDAY PARTY Was a Spectacular Celebration at Carnegie Hall

On April 27, The New York Pops celebrated their 43rd anniversary with a Birthday Gala concert and party, Changed For Good: A Celebration of Stephen Schwartz. Broadway World was invited to the concert portion of the evening.

Schwartz is the legendary and prolific composer of such beloved Broadway scores as Godspell, Pippin, and Wicked, the Disney classics Pocahontas and Enchanted, and much more. He has won three Academy Awards and four Grammy Awards.

At this performance, in addition to the 78-piece Pops orchestra, there were 22 student musicians from the Pops’ “Kids on Stage” program, making for an astounding 100-piece powerhouse.

Rather than the usual rotation of two or three guest performers, the program featured Shoshana Bean, Tituss Burgess, Aisha Jackson, Brittney Johnson, Rachel Bay Jones, Judy Kuhn, Telly Leung, Kyle Dean Massey, Lindsay Mendez, Mary Kate Morrissey, Ben Platt, Jasmine Amy Rogers, Sherie Rene Scott, Emmett O’Hanlon, and Mary Testa.

Maestro Steven Reineke opened the concert with a spectacular overture of Schwartz signature tunes. He brought out Telly Leung to perform “All Good Gifts” from Godspell, along with a huge group of costumed theater kids from Camp Broadway joining him onstage and in front of the stage. Shoshana Bean appeared for the second Godspell number, “Bless the Lord,” with the kids doing a choreographed dance while Bean tore the roof off Stern Auditorium. All of this made the opening two numbers feel like a Broadway production.

Tony winner Ben Platt (Dear Evan Hansen) took on “Corner of the Sky” from Pippin, while Tituss Burgess performed “Meadowlark” (The Baker’s Wife). (This is the third time in a month this reviewer has covered this song in a Broadway World review!) With a high tenor voice and a soaring ending, it was quite beautiful.

Three-time Tony Award nominee Mary Testa killed with “It’s an Art” (Working), a clever tune about a waitress who really loves her job. With a big voice and great comedic chops, Testa would have been a natural in the old music hall days.

Lindsay Mendez presented a lovely "Stranger to the Rain," from Children of Eden.

For selections from Schwartz’s collaborations with composer Alan Menken, for which Schwartz wrote lyrics, Judy Kuhn reprised her title role in Pocahontas for “Colors of the Wind” (music by Alan Menken), while Kyle Dean Massey delivered a fine “Out There” from The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Schwartz similarly collaborated with composer Hans Zimmer on the animated The Prince of Egypt. Aisha Jackson and Jasmine Amy Rogers were spectacular together on “When You Believe” from that film.

Reineke lost performer Paulo Szot to illness on two days’ notice, and his hero, operatic baritone Emmett O’Hanlon, learned the challenging “You Didn’t Know Her” (from Schwartz’s opera, Séance on a Wet Afternoon). With so many male Broadway voices these days being thin-voiced tenors, O’Hanlon’s rangy voice, with a sensitive approach to the lyrics, was a welcome departure.

Another three-time Tony Award nominee, Sherie Rene Scott, was outstanding on “This Is Not the Way” (The Queen of Versailles). Scott is a dynamic performer with great presence, personality, and pizzazz.

A purely orchestral arrangement of highlights from Wicked featured the Kids on Stage before Brittney Johnson, the first Black woman to play Glinda in Wicked, performed “Popular” from that show, with some playful, almost flirty banter with Reineke, who always brings great humor to Pops concerts.

The biggest highlight of the night to this point was Mary Kate Morrissey’s show-stopping rendition of “Defying Gravity” (Wicked). Morrissey appeared in a goddess-like outfit, with a voice and delivery to match. Once the audience caught its collective breath, this became the only number to this point to garner a (well-deserved) standing ovation, which seemed to take her by surprise.

This might have been a tough act to follow, so Reineke brought out the big gun: Stephen Schwartz himself. He noted drily, "After listening all night, I’ve realized my music is a weird combination of angst and hope." Schwartz, an excellent pianist and a very good singer, performed a beautiful medley with Michael McCorry Rose of “No Place Like Home” from the film Wicked: For Good, and “Beautiful City” (from the Godspell film). For the finale, Brittney Johnson and Mary Kate Morrissey returned to sing “For Good” (Wicked), with Schwartz on piano and additional harmony.

With the Camp Broadway kids dancing through the aisles and most of the performers onstage for bows, the Pops finished their birthday concert with “Dancing Through Life” (Wicked). For the big Broadway kids in the audience, it was a spectacular evening. Happy 43rd birthday, New York Pops!

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For more information about The New York Pops, their upcoming shows and to learn how to support them and their programs for NYC youth, visit newyorkpops.org.

Photos: Rebecca J. Michelson

Broadway World photographer Genevieve Rafter Keddy's photo essay can be found here. 

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