By Joel Benjamin
In a Grinch-like mood—late buses, hot weather, you name it—I dragged myself down the stairs to see Laura Osnes at 54 Below on May 29th. I left an hour and a half later dancing on air, every hint of a bad mood gone. Spending time with the fantastic Ms. Osnes can do this.
Dressed in a beautiful, red jumpsuit, the star of the recent Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella wrapped her sweet, but powerful soprano around a generous program of Broadway melodies, including several from musicals containing her “dream roles,” like Marian (The Music Man – Meredith Willson), Nellie (South Pacific – Rodgers & Hammerstein) and Julie (Carousel – R & H again).
Her “Till There Was You” made it clear that hers would be a Marion to reckon with while “If I Loved You” and “Wonderful Guy” were exemplary in their expressions of romantic love.
She and her music director, Fred Lassen re-fashioned several songs. “De-lovely” (Cole Porter) was cool and jazzy while “Green Finch” (Sondheim), usually sung at a breakneck speed, had an almost country and western lilt.
She had a lark with the self-involved lyrics of “Popular” from Wicked (Stephen Schwartz).
On the other side of the emotional spectrum were the touching “Far From the Home I Love” (Bock/Harnick, just in time to preview the upcoming Fiddler revival) and the sad, wistful “My Grandmother’s Love Letters” (Maury Yeston) paired with “When Somebody Loved Me” (Randy Newman), which were dedicated to her Grandmother and her late mom. There were few dry eyes after the latter two numbers.
She led an amusing contest, quoting bits of song lyrics. Those in the audience who knew what shows they came from were rewarded with a Reese’s candy! Somehow, she made this pause in the singing just part of the show.
A “Blue Medley” consisting of two Irving Berlin songs, “Shaking the Blues Away” and “Blue Skies” were given fresh interpretations. She reached the heights of vocal virtuosity with “I Could Have Danced All Night” (Lerner/Loewe), hitting all the stratospheric high notes with elan.
Her final number was “Dream A Little Dream” (Fabian Andre/Wilbur Schwandt/Gus Kahn), tying up the show with what could have been its theme song.
The bassist Robert Jost and percussionist Sean McDaniel completed the very involved band. Each member contributed to the mood and subtle colors of each song.
Laura Osnes – May 28 & 29, 2015
54 Below – 254 West 54th St., between Broadway and Eighth Avenue, New York, NY
Reservations: 646-476-3551 or www.54below.com
More information: www.laura-osnes.com
