The Broadway Musicals of 1987 was the 2012 finale of Scott Siegel’s annual four-part Broadway by the Year series at The Town Hall, spotlighting  songs from shows of that year.  1987 brought two major hits to Broadway, Les Misérables and Into the Woods.  This show's imaginative opening, “Into the Woods,” offered a whimsical nod to another 1987 production, Starlight Express, by having some of those on stage on roller skates.  Les Miz’s “One Day More” provided a powerful first act closer by the entire ensemble, including the recently created Broadway by the Year twenty-voice chorus.

One of the pleasures of this long-running series is Siegel's inclusion of notable songs from short-lived shows as well as the year’s blockbusters.  Stardust, the tribute to lyricist Mitchell Parish that was on the boards but three months, provided “The Syncopated Clock,” “Volare” and, of course, “Stardust.”  And “Life Is Ahead of Me” came from Roza, a ten-day wonder at the Royale Theater that almost no one knew was there.

Siegel always peoples his casts with Broadway regulars, and 1987 ran true to form. One aspect that needs attention is a surprising lack of mike technique on the part of a few otherwise engaging performers.  They come close to blowing out the exit lights by raising the volume of their singing while keeping the mic cemented inches from their lips. Happily, such jarring moments were relatively few and soon overlooked as we were treated to highlights such as Kerry O’Malley’s “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Miz, and a priceless duo — Mark Kudish (pictured) and Jeffry Denman — duetting “Agony” from Into the Woods.  To everyone’s delight, the pair reprised it in the second act.  Denman, joined by Anna White and Kelley Sheehan, created another winner with a tap dancing sequence, using the title number from Stepping Out, another 1987 musical.

The four Broadway by the Year shows that Siegel produces, creates, writes and hosts each spring is but part of his and The Town Hall's admiring focus on the American musical heritage.  There's also Broadway’s Rising Stars, showcasing youngsters hopefully about to make their marks on the musical scene, and the multi-performance Broadway/Cabaret Festival come October.  The venue also hosts Siegel’s own Broadway Unplugged, in which performers sing the way the old-timers did when actors and singers were taught to “project” without the ubiquitous amplification present today, plus his Annual Nightlife Awards event coming up at the turn of the year.

Siegel is one of the most dedicated showmen promoting the cherished music of the past.  In addition to the more recent decades, his past productions included the Broadway musicals of 1921, 1924, 1926 and 1927.  Think that’s all old hat?  Most of the audience probably could still sing along with numbers from Blossom Time, The Ziegfeld Follies, Garrick Gaieties, Show Boat, A Connecticut Yankee and the like.  Siegel also manages to write, direct and produce concerts for Michael Feinstein and Jazz at Lincoln Center, Broadway Ballyhoo, a late-night, ever-changing musical revue/concert series at Feinstein’s at Loews Regency, the annual Lauri Strauss Leukemia Foundation Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Hall, and 11 O’Clock Numbers, that had an eight-month run at Feinstein’s, then a showing at Birdland and now is being performed around the country.

Peter Leavy
Cabaret Scenes
June 11, 2012
www.cabaretscenes.org