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On July 26th at The American Songbook Project's benefit at Sardi's, I received a valuable lesson in star power. Coincidentally, I'd recently written a review of Town Hall's Broadway Rising Stars concert where I singled out four promising young hopefuls whom I felt had star power. In that review, I wrote, "The best performers, nerves and all, do it with an easy command."
I now find the same sentiment applies to established professionals and hopefuls, alike; even amongst the pros, there's a special breed of entertainer. When that person gets on the stage, the room instantly comes alive and we immediately know: a star's in the house.
Peter Gallagher is a star. Everyone knew it the moment he took the mic ... and not because we're mostly familiar with his body of work (Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Malice, American Beauty, "The O.C.," "Covert Affairs," etc), but because he has that easy command, that presence which puts everyone in the room at ease. After a scheduling snafu that had the presenter prematurely calling onstage singer Lea DeLaria, Mr. Gallagher intuitively saw the comedic potential in the moment and trotted onstage instead, smiling effortlessly: "Hi, I'm Lea DeLaria. The secret's out."
Wild applause. And after the actual Lea DeLaria sang her number, Mr. Gallagher chimed from off stage, “That’s the best I ever sang.”
There's no better feeling for an audience member than knowing that the person on stage knows exactly what he's doing. "The guy's in control, so let's sit back and relax," our minds tell us.
I certainly relaxed as Mr. Gallagher settled in and treated us to a performance of "I've Never Been in Love Before," from Guys and Dolls. He'd played Sky Masterson in the 1992 revival of that great show, and clearly the essence of the part was still in him. Singing "My Time of Day," the musical prologue, he adopted Sky's easy swagger. He played it over the top, but I didn't mind; he was confident in his choices, committing to them fully (prospective actors, take note: if you're gonna make a choice, stick to it!). Then, as he eased into the main chorus of the song, he allowed Sky's vulnerability to emerge, tapping into the soul of Frank Loesser's tune.
It was a bravura performance, and this all the more surprising given the theme of the evening. I can't begin to comprehend why The American Songbook Project decided to use author Tyler DeAngelo's book Learn Just Enough to Get Laid as the counterpoint to the evening's repertoire of classic American songs.
Tyler, a callow and garish thirty-something who read excerpts from his macho how-to-have-a-lot-of-sex book in between performances, made for a strange contrast with the elegant artistry of the classic American tunes.
Not to say that the classic songs aren't about sex, at least to some extent. But I submit that the inclinations of the masterpieces that comprise the golden age of American songwriting, lean towards loftier sentiments of deep, soulful Passion, not towards games of "hide the salami."
How ironic, too, that the American songbook's one true champion of sex - that lascivious little man Cole Porter - was absent from the billing. This was the guy who wrote "Let's Do It," "Let's Misbehave," and lyrics like "I love the looks of you, the lure of you/I'd love to make a tour of you ..." His presence, here, was deeply missed.
Instead, the chapters of Mr. DeAngelo's book were simply used as ham-handed segues into songs by Arlen, Bernstein and other great songwriters. For instance, a chapter in his book discusses the importance of being adept at construction - thus the segway into George and Ira Gershwin's "I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise" ... get it? I'll build a stairway ... construction ... yeah, it's a stretch. The entire show was like that - songs loosely related to sentiments in the chapters of a book about how to get laid.
Look, I'm not complaining. Hey, I'll take any excuse to hear songs by Gershwin. I'm the guy whose favorite musical is An American in Paris, and in that movie, "Stairway to Paradise" is performed for no reason at all other than to ... well ... have it be performed. But really, if you're going to set up a theme for a show, shouldn't it be somewhat relevant or clever?
Despite the weak premise, however, and despite the unappealing book that is clearly not a candidate for a Pulitzer (yeah, o.k., I'll fess up, I skimmed a few chapters for hints), the performers were uniformly impressive. None had the same command and ebullience as Mr. Gallagher, but there were some standouts.
Robert Petkoff sang a soulful rendition of "Lost in the Stars," by Kurt Weill, the most underperformed of the great masters. Sean Harkness thrilled on the guitar with a suave interpretation of "My Romance," one of the all time great songs, by Rodgers and Hart, and Christian Campbell sang "Le Temps," a howler of a tune by Charles Aznavour with updated lyrics by Jamie deRoy. The song is a parody of a French love ballad, with the hilarious lyrics comprised entirely of random popular French phrases (cafe au lait, merci beaucoup, Marcel Marceau, etc.) that, when sung passionately, evoke the romantic spirit of the language without making any logical sense.
All in all, it was a tremendously enjoyable evening, but there's no question as to the highlight. I have a new found respect for Peter Gallagher, and I'm eager to catch up on his work because I feel like I've been missing out. A star can make or break a show, and I’m awfully glad this one showed up.
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The American Songbook Project is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting the rich heritage of the great American songbook in NYC schools, through education and performance. Among its board of directors are Michael Estwanik (President), Jamie deRoy (Vice President), Sean Patrick Murtagh (Treasurer) and Lynn Dimenna (Secretary).
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