BWW Reviews: Nobody Does It Better than Kritzerland Saluting Marvin Hamlisch

Nobody-Does-It-Better-than-Kritzerland-Saluting-Marvin-Hamlisch-20010101

Nobody Does It Better...The Music of Marvin Hamlisch/Sunday October 7/Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal

by guest reviewer - Jim Spada

Simply to recite a list of the recently deceased Marvin Hamlisch's awards--three Oscars in 1973 for The Way We Were and The Sting; a Tony and Pulitzer Prize for A Chorus Line; three Emmys, two Golden Globes, four ASCAP awards, and a Grammy is enough the inspire awe. But as host Bruce Kimmel reminds us during the fabulous 26^th Kritzerland Show at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal in NoHo on October 7, he had his share of flops too like The Goodbye Girl, or Jean Seberg. But even a flop show can have some beautiful songs in it, and Kimmel includes a number of these among the twenty selections offered.

Kimmel, a record producer, drolly introduces each song with background about it, some of the patter personal reminiscences of his own about Hamlisch, Liza Minnelli, and others. He also nicely sings one number, "Fallin'" from They're Playing Our Song. When Kimmel said he would be singing the song, a woman sitting near me commented, "I didn't know he sang." When the song ended, she added, "He's pretty good!

The diverse eight-member cast of this revue, most of them with extensive legitimate theater experience, served the material well. Angel Reda, a tall, pretty blonde, and amazingly limber, opened the show with a spirited "A Beat Behind" from The Goodbye Girl, and later sang a medley of "If You Really Knew Me" and "I Still Believe in Love" from They're Playing Our Song and a belted "No More" from The Goodbye Girl.

The strong-voiced Kevin Bailey offered "Cannot Hear the City" from Sweet Smell of Success,"Smile" from Smile and the only song I was less than crazy about, through no fault of Bailey's, and a great performance of "At the Fountain" from Sweet Smell of Success.

Next up was "perky" (Kimmel's word, and I wouldn't disagree) Juliana Hanson, who performed a medley of "The Travelin' Life" (which a teenage Hamlisch wrote for Liza Minnelli's debut album) and his first pop hit, "Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows," originally sung by Lesley Gore. She also did a fantastic job with "Disneyland," another song from Smile. My one reservation about this selection is that it seemed to be included mainly because of its lyrics (by Howard Ashman); I didn't find the melody particularly distinctive.

Joanne O'Brien, possessor of the prettiest voice of the night, delivered "Dreamer" from Jean Seberg, "Through the Eyes of Love" from Dirty Girl, and a lovely "Ordinary Miracles," written by Hamlisch and Alan and Marilyn Bergman especially for Barbra Streisand.

Tall, handsome, and a leading man in the making, Jeffrey Christopher Todd did a fantastic, well-sung-and-acted job on "Elliot Garfield Grant" from The Goodbye Girl.

In a bit of hilarious gender-bending, the very energetic Jason Graae sang "Dance Ten, Looks Three" from A Chorus Line. The song takes on a whole new layer of meaning when sung by a man.

Euan Morton gave a strong, big-voiced performance of the Carly Simon hit "Nobody Does It Better" from The Spy Who Loved Me, followed by a gorgeous, quietly emotional rendition of "The Way We Were." As a Streisand fan, I'm of course very familiar with the song, but I found Morton's heartfelt version really touching.

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Don Grigware is an Ovation nominated actor and writer whose contributions to theatre through the years have included 6 years as theatre editor of NoHoLA, a contributor to LA Stage magazine and currently on his own website:

www.grigwaretalkstheatre.com

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