Sometimes it depends what set you catch and what mindset you catch the performer in— and the size and type of crowd and club.  Could the city make a world of a difference?  Intimate, elegant venues with close-up seating aren't ideal  for often big, brash or bombastic showstopping theater songs he was tethered to; the act acts as promotion for his CD. His On Broadway on Park Avenue (Feinstein's at Loews Regency).  It felt just "too big for the room," though his patter was casually chit-chatty, albeit rambling.  His persona sometimes seemed more confidently swaggering, slick Las Vegas lounge entertainer, winking at the material, holding the mic stand at a sharp angle, singing AT the audience.  It worked better for the on-purpose insincerity of "All I Care About Is Love" (Chicago).

Undeniably strong of voice and dynamic, his performances were more outwardly showman-like than insightful or inside the songs.  Rather than recalling or sticking to the material's musical theater roots (as happens more on the orchestral CD reviewed in our December issue), liberties galore were taken, with style often owed more to the Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr. customized versions. However, when he revisited one role he'd actually played onstage, he inhabited it ("Being Alive," Company) and dropped the shtick.

Campbell's cream of Broadway soup was warmed up by four excellent musicians (Christopher Denny, piano; Kevin Kuhn, guitar; Jered Egan, bass; Rex Benincasa, percussion), none of whom is on the CD..  P.S.: At this show, he did not do the encore of "Grateful," a track from a fine early album. But he did step off Broadway for "Danke Schoen," from his "swing" album, fun its fits of fizziness. But please... bring back the sincere balladeer.

Rob Lester
Cabaret Scenes
November 30, 2010
www.cabaretscenes.org