By Marilyn Lester . . .
There’s a reason that John Lloyd Young was cast as Frankie Valli in Broadway’s Jersey Boys. Among other attributes (think acting chops, perfect looks, charisma), he can sing a mean falsetto. He can sing—period—easily and powerfully delivering his set at the Cafe Carlyle, beginning with “My Prayer” (Georges Boulanger, Carlos Barrera, Jimmy Kennedy) written in 1939 and made famous by The Platters in 1956. It was possibly counter-intuitive to start with a ballad and not uptempo big, as is the “custom,” but in a room as compact and warm as the Carlyle, Young set the evening’s tone of intimacy. And then there is the Young has amazing control over his basic tenor, moving easily from a baritone range to those sky-high falsetto notes. In that, he can be quite mesmerizing.
As to his 2006 Broadway debut in Jersey Boys, for which he won Tony, Grammy, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Theater World Awards—a first and unduplicated since—Young revealed that his audition for the role was fairly long and arduous. In fact, he’d been turned down for it in the show’s Off Broadway run. He spent two years in the show, played it in London’s West End, was cast in Clint Eastwood’s movie version (2014). He made his debut at the Cafe Carlyle in February 2013, and has been returning ever since, minus COVID year restrictions. It’s a room he knows as well as his Jersey Boys repertoire, and he delivers on it, offering, among others, “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” (Bob Crewe, Bob Gaudio) and “My Eyes Adored You” (Bob Crewe, Kenny Nolan).
Reliably, Young delivered on the R&B repertoire he’s come to embrace. With “I’m On the Outside Looking In” (Teddy Randazzo, Bobby Weinstein) he speaks of meeting another high-note vocalist, “Little Anthony” (Jerome Anthony Gourdine) of The Imperials. Young’s narrative was loose and easy in setting up songs, much in the jazz singer mode than the theme-driven style of cabaret. He dropped into a historian persona for part of the set, with fun factoids about the Café’s murals, painted by French artist Marcel Vertès, who also won two Academy Awards for the 1952 film, Moulin Rouge. Revealing that the hotel Carlyle was originally not a hotel, he quizzes the audience if anyone knows who the first resident was. No takers, so the reveal in “I Have Dreamed” points to Richard Rodgers (who wrote this number for The King and I with Oscar Hammerstein II). This choice is a reminder that as a young man pre-Jersey Boys, Young was musical theater immersed and self-directed. He is an actor, and this skill he applies well to his interpretation of lyric.
But in the ten years and more that he’s been concertizing, there’s been an evolution in Young’s presentation. In this particular show, he was the same and yet different. Is there, thus, a significant change in the wind? Young’s music director-pianist was Jacquelyn Schreiber. It was actually strange not seeing his long-time musical partner Tommy Faragher on the scene. Between them there was an ease and energetic flow that was missing with Schrieber, whose abilities are sound, but lack the dynamism of Faragher’s style and his rapport with Young. That sense of imbalance was perhaps imperceptible to some, but none the less evident—and it also seemed to affect his legendary capability to fully engage and interact with his audience. It may not be fair to say with a new relationship, but Young, with Faragher, often presented more adventurous material, such as the Mandarin Chinese ballad, “Ming Ri Tian Ya” and original compositions such as “Cold Dawn Calling,” with music by Faragher and lyrics by Young.
As Young approaches middle-age, although still youthful and dynamic, he appears to be minimizing the trademarks of a dozen years ago, the hipster leather and shades look. The shades are there on entrance and exit, but the overall vibe is more Rat Pack cool than punk. What was most exciting to witness, was an engagement of jazz and blues. He performed a Jersey Boys tune, “Moody’s Mood for Love” and jazzed it up. Well, the original 1949 melody was composed by jazz saxophonist James Moody and adapted into song by Eddie Jefferson. The Hollies’ “The Air That I Breathe” (Albert Hammond, Mike Hazlewood) became a blues number, and more spectacularly “ Both Sides Now” (Joni Mitchell), in a slow tempo Kurt Weill meets the blues style, left no doubt about interpretive skill and musicality. The rendition was illuminating and breathtaking.
Going out on a very high note of uptempo audience engagement, Young got the crowd going with a medley of “Maybe I’m Amazed” (Paul McCartney), “Working My Way Back to You” (Sandy Linzer, Denny Randell) and “Sherry” (Bob Gaudio). Back on territory that’s an audience pleaser, Young led the way with everyone encouraged to stand and move, clap and sing their hearts out. There’s a delicate balance in pleasing fans with the music they expect from Jersey Boys and branching out and moving on as an artist—and for some stars that’s not an easy decision to make. Kudos to Young for his forays into new material—it’s a winner every time.
John Lloyd Young appears at The Café Carlyle in the Hotel Carlyle through Saturday, April 1. Visit https://www.exploretock.com/cafecarlyle for tickets and more information.
Photos: David Andrako
