Review: BROADWAY LEGENDS at The Music Center at Strathmore

What better way to ease into fall and the holiday season than with an evening of show tunes with a symphony orchestra, three great singers, and a superb maestro.

The Music Center at Strathmore provided that this past Thursday evening as the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) under the direction of Maestro Ted Sperling and vocalists Dee Roscioli, Scarlett Strallen, and Hugh Panaro presented Broadway Legends. The program consisted of familiar Broadway standards spanning 90 years.

The program started out with the BSO playing the “Overture” from Jule Styne and Bob Merrill’s Funny Girl as orchestrated by Ralph Burns. I will say, as much as I love hearing a large orchestra play Broadway music (It’s a rarity these days), I did find the trumpets to not have the articulation on certain musical runs that I am use to hearing being played really crisp. The brass however redeemed itself later on in the program on the “Overture” from West Side Story as orchestrated by the show’s composer Leonard Bernstein with Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal. 

For those of you not familiar with Maestro Ted Sperling, The Light in The Piazza, Falsettoland, Audra McDonald, MasterVoices, You get the idea.

Next up was a mashup of Cole Porter’s “Another Openin’ Another Show” from Kiss Me Kate and Irving Berlin’s “There’s No Business Like Show Business” from Annie Get Your Gun performed by our trio of vocalists. It was very nice to hear these two staples of musical theatre fused together in a new and inventive way.

All of the soloists nailed each of their numbers and it’s actually hard to pick out a few highlights. But, seeing as that’s my job to do so, here are a few of my favorites.

Dee Roscioli is the longest running actress to play the leading role of Elphaba in Stephen Schwartz’s Wicked. She played the role for seven years and it’s easy to see why she is much loved in this role. She was my first Elphaba when I saw the show on Broadway and a few years later at the Kennedy Center. Her “Defying Gravity” was as stellar as I remembered it in Wicked. She also gave a knockout performance of “Don’t Rain on My Parade” from Funny Girl.

Hugh Panaro’s “Not While I’m Around” from Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd as orchestrated by Jonathan Tunick was haunting and possibly one of the best versions of the song I’ve heard. If you know Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of The Opera, then you know Hugh Panaro has a long association with the show playing both Raoul and The Phantom. His “Music of The Night” brought back many memories for much of the audience.

West End star Scarlett Strallen is probably best known in the states for her performance as the title character in the stage version of Mary Poppins. Her performance of “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” from Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Evita held the audience spellbound. Sometimes a song just needs a piano and a vocalist for audible perfection and Strallen’s “Send in The Clowns” from Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music as accompanied by Ted Sperling was as good as it might ever get.

The trio of singers had perfect blend and chemistry on “Getting Married Today” from Stephen Sondheim’s Company as orchestrated by Jonathan Tunick. Their encore was a Lloyd Webber mash up for the ages. I won’t disclose the contents in case any of you choose to see this concert in Baltimore this weekend at the Meyerhoff.

All in all, a great way to spend a fall evening in suburban Maryland. Three great vocalists and a maestro of top-drawer quality with the BSO paying tribute to some of Broadway’s best. Curtain up!

Running Time: Two hours with one intermission.

Broadway Legends was a one night only performance at The Music Center at Strathmore on November 9th, 2023. The concert will be performed at Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall on November 11tha t 8:00pm and November 12th and 3:00pm. The venue is located at 1212 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, MD.