It was a grand night of singing as four show-stopping male performers — plus one very powerful female — brought Broadway to Hollywood in a glorious evening of show-stopping songs.  The leading men included a soaring-voiced David Burnham, a suave Brandon Victor Dixon, an energetic Levi Kreis and a rocking Ace Young — introduced and occasionally overshadowed by the big, bold, brassy voice and persona of Frenchie Davis.

The evening got off to a strong start with Davis singing the suggestive, yet quite apt, “Bring On the Men” (Frank Wildhorn/Leslie Bricusse, from Jekyll & Hyde), followed by Burnham’s powerful rendition of “Feeling Good” (Anthony Newley/Leslie Bricusse, from The Roar of the Greasepaint, The Smell of the Crowd) — with strong saxophone accompaniment by Dave Bass.  Burnham returned later to stunning effect to recreate the operatic “Il Mondo Era Vuoto” (Adam Guettel with Italian lyrics by Judith Blazer)  that he sang in Light in the Piazza— with violin accompaniment by Israel Heller.

Kreis showed the range of his talent in back-to-back numbers — electrifying the crowd by recreating his Tony-winning, piano-pounding turn as Jerry Lee Lewis in Million Dollar Quartet with “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” (Dave Williams/James Faye “Roy” Hill), then silencing the audience by sitting on the lip of the stage and singing a sweet, tender version of Stephen Sondheim’s “Not While I’m Around,” from Sweeney Todd.

Dixon demonstrated his own range with a soulful rendering of “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” (Duke Ellington/Bob Russell), a sweet “Being Alive” (Sondheim, from Company) and a tender reading of “Go Back Home,” which he sang in Kander and Ebb’s The Scottsboro Boys.

Young, the weakest-voiced of the four singers, held his own with “Greased Lightning” (Jim Jacobs/Warren Casey, from Grease) and later worked his way through the audience to the stage — clad solely in a loincloth and interacting effectively with the crowd — to set up a three-song medley from Hair (James Rado/Gerome Ragni/Galt MacDermot).

Davis showed her softer side on “A Quiet Thing” (Kander & Ebb, from Flora, the Red Menace) and her sassy side on “Ain’t Misbehavin’” (Fats Waller, Harry Brooks/Andy Razaf), then later brought down the house with a stunning, powerful, definitive performance of “I Am Changing” (Henry Krieger/Tom Eyen, from Dreamgirls).  Occurring as it did right before the finale, the number nearly stole the thunder from all the testosterone that preceded it.

The singers occasionally performed together during the show — very effectively when Kreis and Burnham duetted on a deeply moving “For Good” (Stephen Schwartz, from Wicked) and very amusingly as Burnham, Kreis and Young emerged in pink tutus to sing a fairly straightforward version of “At the Ballet” (Edward Kleban, Marvin Hamlisch, from A Chorus Line) — with Burnham using his falsetto to hilarious effect.

Each got a turn at singing an original song: Kreis on his gospel-tinged “Nothing at All”; Dixon on the bluesy “Open Anticipation” (written with Daniel Watts); Burnham on the pop-oriented “Already Gone” (written with Mark Vogel, Jeremy Diebler, Luke Tozour); and Young in a piercing performance of “I Wanna Fall in Love Again” (written with Harry Sommerdahl).

The show was smoothly paced and directed by Sam Harris, in his first stint overseeing a concert.  Brent Crayon served as musical director and pianist, with consistent support from Matt Lucich on drums, Aron Forbes on guitar, Carter Wallace on bass and Dave Bass on saxophone, clarinet and flute, plus backup singers Xiantoni Lynch and Karma.  The show was produced by Chris Isaacson.

Elliot Zwiebach
Cabaret Scenes
September 16, 2011
www.cabaretscenes.org