By Ron Fassler . . .
When last we tuned in, Seth Rudetsky’s Broadway was scheduled for April 19, 2019. Canceled for reasons we know all too well, his special guest for an intimate evening of performance and song was the Tony Award-winning Brian Stokes Mitchell. Was it “worth the wait!” as someone shouted from the audience just before the end of the concert? You bet.
For those unfamiliar, the format at The Town Hall features Rudetsky as host and accompanist to a major Broadway talent. And instead of that performer in his or her well-constructed cabaret act, what we get is a moment-to-moment free for all, with Rudetsky jumping from song to story to song, resulting in a spontaneity that, even if it’s roughly rehearsed, yields amazing surprises (or as Rudetsky would say “ah-mahzing!). The singers aren’t really clued in to what they will be asked to sing (although they certainly have a good idea, as the songs match their career highlights), all of which leads to a devilishly good time.
In Brian Stokes Mitchell (“Stokes” to all who know him), lies the beating heart of a joyous individual. There’s no hiding his natural ebullience for performing and for life itself. At 64 years old, it’s difficult to imagine his energy being anything less than what it was when he was twenty—which is when his career began in earnest, when he landed a role in the hit TV series Trapper John, M.D.. Not only was it his first time in front of a camera, but he got the part at his first audition for a TV show . . . and it ran for seven years! Beginner’s luck, sure. But leave it to Stokes to not just sit back and collect a paycheck; he also composed episodes of the show’s score, for good measure.
His fortunes turned forever when he originated the role of Coalhouse Walker, Jr. in Ragtime, for which he received his first Best Actor in a Musical Tony nomination (he won two years later for his Fred Graham/Petruchio in the 1999 revival of Kiss Me, Kate). He’s appeared in ten Broadway musicals. Let’s hope there are ten more still in him, as he possesses the charismatic flair of an actor/singer of the old school. It’s not for nothing he started as Cervantes/Don Quixote in the 2003 revival of Man of La Mancha—to my mind, the actor he most resembles, career-wise, is Richard Kiley, another giant talent who could do it all.
On the stage of the Town Hall Monday evening, Stokes was in fine form. Three-quarters of the way through, Rudetsky apologized for making him sing mostly eleven o’clock numbers—big, big ballads. Then, of course, he went on to do a few more. Here’s the setlist:
“There’s No Business Like Show Business” (Irving Berlin)
“So in Love” (Cole Porter)
“Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord” (Stephen Schwartz)
“Feeling Good” (Anthony Newley/Leslie Bricusse)
“I Am I, Don Quixote” and “The Impossible Dream” (Mitch Leigh/Joe Darion)
“A Wizard Every Day” (Liz and Nikko Benson)
“Ain’t Necessarily So” (George Gershwin, DuBose Heyward & Ira Gershwin)
“Stars” (Claude-Michel Schönberg, Alain Boublil, Jean-Marc Natel)
“How to Handle a Woman” (Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Loewe)
“Wheels of a Dream” (Stephen Flaherty, Lynn Ahrens)
“This Nearly Was Mine” (Rodgers and Hammerstein)
The last song (his encore) was sung acapella, his microphone pushed aside. It was the proverbial “you could hear a pin drop” moment. Of course, that’s nothing to take away from the sensitive and expert playing from Seth Rudetsky throughout the program (besides his being charming, witty and a total delight).
Seth Rudetsky’s Broadway – With Brian Stokes Mitchell took place Monday, April 4 at The Town Hall (123 West 43rd Street, between Broadway and Sixth Avenue). The next two guests are Vanessa Williams (June 20) and Jane Krakowski (September 12). www.thetownhall.org/seth-rudetskys-broadway
Photos:
