James Barbour has easygoing good looks and charm to spare.  He returned to Birdland to perform his very personal program of Love Songs, many from the musicals of Frank Wildhorn with whom he has had a long association.  His slightly casual dress—shirt opened down to the chest—set the mood for the evening.  He breezily became more raconteur and host than leading man, beginning the evening with a funny tale of spider bites and some wry comments on Justin Bieber, before singing songs from Dracula, the Musical  (Wildhorn with lyrics by Christopher Hampton & Don Black), including a soulful “The Longer I Live” and a dramatic “Loving You Keeps Me Alive.”  Both showed off the richness and range of Barbour’s voice.  If we needed more proof of his prowess, his “If Ever I Would Leave You” (Lerner and Loewe) was a classic example of a well-trained baritone executing a song perfectly.  Icing on the cake was a surprisingly—but effectively—subdued “The Impossible Dream” (Mitch Leigh and Joe Darion).

In an orgy of mutual admiration, he first brought to the stage guest artist Rob Meister, who sang his plaintive “A Fool Never Knows,” accompanying himself on the guitar and joining Barbour on several songs. Then, Frank Basile sang “Some Enchanted Evening” with great feeling, especially considering he was truly a “surprised” guest artist!

Accompanied by the good-humored Jeremy Roberts on piano, Barbour reached emotional heights in “Sarah,” from Wildhorn’s Civil War (book & lyrics by Gregory Boyd and Jack Murphy), a truly poignant song about a dying soldier’s last thoughts.  He also sang material from a musical version of Cyrano, most notably an anthem-like “Bring Me Giants” and, with Rob Meister, a song from a new musical about Queen front man Freddie Mercury, “Too Much Love Will Kill You” written by Brian May.

Perhaps Love Songs could have been better organized, with fewer anecdotes and more singing, but James Barbour’s innate charisma made the evening a success.

Joel Benjamin
Cabaret Scenes
March 6, 2011
www.cabaretscenes.org