by Joe Regan Jr.
When there was a sudden cancellation, the management of the Metropolitan Room reached out to Scott Siegel for the November 11 7 PM spot. Siegel jumped at the opportunity to present some of his favorite people who have appeared at his many Town Hall productions and present them on the more intimate Metropolitan Room stage and he named the program “Scott Siegel’s All Stars Concert Extravaganza.”
The beautiful Maxine Linehan was thrilled to be on the same stage with Johnstone with whom she had toured in “South Pacific.” Her Petula Clark show, “What Would Petula Do” has won almost every award out there and will return to the Metropolitan Room on January 18 and next year will appear in Paris at a 2,000 seat theatre. Her first song was the tender “Unexpected Song” from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Song and Dance,” sung with glorious notes and deep emotion. When she returned she told us that Clark at an advanced age played the lead in “Sunset Boulevard” more times than any other Norma Desmond on many tours, never missing a performance and gave us a standout “As If We Never Said Goodbye.”
Carolyn Montgomery-Forant was in great voice singing “Who Will Buy,” discussing how her son is now taller than she is, and singing her favorite Cy Coleman Carolyn Leigh song “The Best Is Yet To Come.” She is embarking on The Rise Tour 2015/2016 for the next two years and her great CD “Visible Phoenix” is out there for all of us to enjoy.
Steve Ross took over the piano did an instrumental “Begin the Beguine” which had a Ravel “Bolero” feeling. Of course, he sang a second song, “What Is This Thing Called Love.” Ross was in great voice.
The surprise guest was Arlene Wolff, a former member of the Abraham Beame administration who was responsible to the first Ninth Avenue Street Fair. Her song, which she wanted to do with Sutherland, was a wild “Why Don’t You Do Right,“ substituting the word “Moolah” for “money” in the lyrics, and dedicated to her 2nd and 3rd husbands. Her second song was dedicated to her 4th and 5th husband, the Police Commissioner at the time (they got married twice), and it was a tender and moving “More Than You Know.“ Wolff will do a special show on November 21 at the Triad/Stage 72 at 9 PM and it should be something no one should miss.
The man at the piano for most of the artists was Ian Herman except for Linehan whose music director Ryan A. Shirar was at the piano for her. Most of these artists have websites and have numbers on You Tube where you can see what great artists appeared on Scott Siegel’s All Stars Extravaganza.
Photos: Stuart Chassen