A well-earned standing
ovation
by
Michael Dresdner
L to R: Laurie Clothier, LaVon Hardison, Stacie Calkins
Three
weeks ago I gave you fair warning that a delightful storm was on its way. I predicted
that Believe in Yourself:The Lena Horne
Songbook, a one-night-only Purple Phoenix production at Centerstage on February
16th would be both completely sold out and an absolute delight to
experience.
I was
right on both counts.
David Duvall
once again arranged a superb and flawlessly paced concert. This time, three
vocalists shared the honors with both solos and harmonized numbers to a wide
range of songs Horne performed. They were all wonderful.
Stacie
Calkins brought her powerful, passionate voice to bear, a thrilling
counterpoint to Laurie Clothier’s polished elegance. LaVon Hardison, who is,
like the other two, an amazing vocalist, not only nailed Horne’s earthy, sultry
style and timbre, but coincidentally looked surprisingly like a beautiful, young
Lena Horne. Any one of them would have been worth the price of admission; the
fact that we had three amounted to delightful overindulgence.
Backing
them up was the redoubtable David Duvall leading an eight piece orchestra that
included Cary Black, Bill Branvold, Bruce Carpenter, Rich Cole, Don Dieterich,
Steve Mostovoy, and Milo Peterson. And yes, they are as critical a part of this
terrific production as are the singers who get the spotlights.
As
usual, it was more than a mere concert. The between-songs patter presented a
very informative recap of Horne’s personal life and career in bite-sized fits, adding
yet another dimension to an already stellar performance.
If you
missed it, shame on you, but don’t worry; there’s more to come. Duvall will be
bringing It's A Good Day for Miss Peggy
Lee to Centerstage on April 13th, 2013 and Reflections of the Supremes on June
29th,2013.
As
before, these are one night only performances, so I will repeat my sage advice.
Click on this link: Centerstage. Buy tickets. Be there.
You will
thank me.
Centerstage
No comments:
Post a Comment