BWW Reviews: Jerry Sharell & Randall Phillips Are Winning @ Sterling's

On Sunday October 30 Sterling's Upstairs at Vitello's presented a unique treat in cabaret with the dual sounds of Broadway's Randall Phillips and pop singer Jerry Sharell in Together Again. Musical direction was by the wonderful Todd Schroeder on piano with Bill Brendle on keyboard, Jack LeCompte on drums, Tim Christensen on bass, and Tony Mandracchia on guitar.

Sharell and Phillips have been friends since 1981 when they did Let's Put on a Show for three years at the Roxy on Sunset. Both merely children at the time, she just having come off of a successful run as orphan Duffy in Broadway's Annie, the two have remained exceedingly close for 30 years - and this was the cause for celebration in Together Again. Why not, when friendship is so terribly dear in this day and age of isolation? And when the two friends have such great vocal instruments like Sharell and Phillips, they send the love they create cascading over the spotlight. Sharell ingeniously engineered the set list with super arrangements, which included some Broadway, but mostly great pop songs from the 70s and 80s, little gems that are not heard as much as they should be from Barry Manilow, the Bergmans, Paul Williams, Kenny Loggins, to name a few. Phillips has a terrific range for singing pop tunes, even though her background is the New York stage, and Sharell, in addition to his quite expert way with the world of popular music, knows how to stop a show with the likes of Stephen Sondheim's "Being Alive" from Company.

Other highlights of the 80 minute set included: "We're In This Love Together", "Woman in the Moon", a dynamic turn for Phillips, "Almost Like Being In Love"/"This Can't Be Love", "Happy Days Are Here Again"/"Get Happy" and a lovely display of insecurity in "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" for Phillips who had been so used to belting out the eternally optimistic "Tomorrow" from Annie for so long. Sharell pulled out all the stops with Barry Manilow's tour-de-force breakup songs "Somewhere Down the Road"/"This Time". Then there were the delightful medleys like the Bergmans' "The Last Time I Felt Like This" from Same Time Next Year, "You Don't Bring Me Flowers Anymore" and "The Way We Were". The childhood medley had "Imagination", "Neverland", "When You Wish Upon a Star" and "Over the Rainbow". The silly love song medley was the best giving us: "Don't Go Breakin' My Heart", "Love Lift Us Up" from An Officer and a Gentleman, "I Got You Babe", "Somewhere Up There", "Islands in the Stream" and "Guilty", with a few lines of "Beauty and the Beast" thrown in to end the delightfully eclectic mix. For Streisand fans, many of the selections assuredly hit the mark and then some.

Both singers shined brightly alone and together and proved that their 30 year friendship and professional collaboration has not lost one ounce of its charm and deep feeling. I hope this is the first of many concerts from Jerry Sharell and Randall Phillips. Like great singing duos of the past, Sharell and Phillips... has an unforgettable ring to it. I know I won't forget them!