by Deirdre Donovan 

Theater impresario Scott Siegel wrapped up his signature concert series, Broadway By The Year(BBTY), with a cadre of top-notch talent at Town Hall on June 22^nd.  This one-night-only event focused on the last two decades of Broadway musicals, stretching from 1991 to the present day. Siegel, who created, wrote, and hosted the event, presented the cream of the Great White Way with 27 glorious numbers on the program.

                        Photos by Maryann Lopinto

The opening number featured country legend Larry Gatlin, singing “Look Around” from The Will Rogers Follies (1991).  Nostalgia was instantly evoked as Gatlin sat on a stool and strummed his guitar, crooning the lyrics from this Broadway classic.  But he really connected with the audience when he slowly intoned its last line:  “Just look around, and you’ll see a memory. ”  That cliché-one could hear a pin drop—became a fresh reality in the hushed auditorium.  While there are other beloved songs from the 1991 Tony Award-winning musical, only this one is totally capable of putting a lasso around your heart.  Gatlin’s relaxed cowboy manner, and his inimitable country style, was utterly winning here.  Will Rogers himself would be proud.

Siegel provided patter between numbers that gave the audience morsels of trivia about the Broadway musical being showcased a la song.  And, true to form, he had a “BONUS” number that presented special guest star Tony Danza, who sang “Out of the Sun” from Honeymoon in Vegas(2015).  Before launching into the song, Danza briefly recapped the musical’s story, which includes a widower whose wife died of excessive sunbathing in Las Vegas.  Danza, a consummate raconteur and showman, belted out the tune with panache and a wink.  Honeymoon in Vegas might have been short-lived at the Nederlander this season, but all who heard Danza singing one of its most memorable numbers, will long remember its leading star.

The program wasn’t linear—or predictable.  It zigged and zagged, back and forth, through the past two decades.  And its only consistent quality was the sterling craftsmanship of the performers, who alternately sang, tap danced, or reinterpreted classic melodies.

Speaking of reinterpreting songs, Christina Bianco (just off her run in Application Pending) did that—and then some.  She presented a medley from Mary Poppins (2006), starting out in her own register as she sang the well-known “Feed the Birds.” She hit her stride, however, by adopting the vocal style of some famous Broadway femmes: Julie Andrews, Kristen Chenoweth, Barbra Streisand, and Liza Minnelli.  Yes, Bianco first gained notoriety by impersonating famous vocal artists on YouTube. But judging by her smooth bridging of registers and sheer range displayed in her vignette, there’s no doubt that Bianco has a future on New York stages.

There were many ear and eye-openers during the evening.  But the arrival of Sahr Ngaujah of Fela!(2009) fame was by far the most poignant.  As Ngaujah hobbled on stage with crutches, Siegel explained that the star recently had been in a near-fatal car accident.  True, few performers would have agreed to do a New York gig in similar circumstances.  But Ngaujah, in keeping with the show-must-go-on spirit, simply perched himself on a chair and then invited the audience to participate in the Fela! song “Everything Scatter.”  One could feel the emotional temperature rise in the theater as Ngaujah asked the audience to join in refrains from this spiritual song.  It was more than art being celebrated in this number, but the reality of being a human being with a heart and soul.

There were no dead spots in this 2-act show.  The concentration—and sheer energy--of Broadway talent packed on to one stage kept audience members leaning in.  Jimmy James Sutherland did a tap dancing routine in synch with a fresh rendering of “It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing” from After Midnight (2013). 

Randy Graff charmed everybody with “The Next Best Thing to Love” from A Class Act (2001).

And Brian Charles Rooney led the Broadway By the Year Chorus with a sizzling hot “Into the Fire” from The Scarlet Pimpernel (1997).  

You could nit-pick, now and then, with some artistic choices.  Scott Coulter sang “Will You Still Love Me “ from Beautiful (2014) with all the sincerity of his male tonsils.  Okay, some will argue this song can only be sung by a female, or not at all.  But Coulter wasn’t apologizing—and drew a strong round of applause from the audience for delivering this Carole King classic with a gender-bending twist.

Ever wonder if the torch song is passé?  Not at all.  In Act 2, Lisa Howard delivered its latest Broadway incarnation in “Jenny’s Blues” from It Shoulda Been You! (2015).  Howard wowed the audience with this song when she took center stage at the 2015 Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall in June.  And she proved that she hasn’t lost her oomph or powerhouse voice as she belted it out again, with “a little sumpin’ sumpin’” at the finale of the Town Hall event.  Say what you will about picture-perfect brides, Howard scratched beneath the glossy surface of the wedding party with this sassy number that speaks about the dilemma of full-figured women who are always the bridesmaid, never the bride.

Each song performed had its own unique fingerprint.  But as the show unfolded, one could detect that each song was in an ongoing dialogue with the others--and reflected the spirit of the past two decades on Broadway.

As the program closed, Siegel acknowledged his show biz partner (and wife), Barbara Siegel, who has helped behind-the-scenes of Broadway By The Year concert series since its founding in 2005. He then plugged for his other shows coming down the pipeline.  But, truth be told, it will be tough to top this Broadway extravaganza. 

One-night-only performance on June 22^nd.

At Town Hall, 123 West 43^rd. Street, Manhattan.

For more information on future shows, visit http://www.siegelpresents.com.

Please note:  Scott Siegel’s Broadway Unplugged, originally scheduled for January 26^th has been rescheduled to July 20th @ 8pm at Town Hall.  For tickets,

phone Town Hall box office: (212) 997-1003 or Ticketmaster: (212) 582-6600.  Visit online www.ticketmaster.com