Kay, so last night, I went to this thing. Really nice venue, except they didn't sell booze. One of the first people I saw in the lobby was Brian. Quite tall and strapping in person. Took my seat: fourth row, over at the right wall.
The first performer was the gorge Jason Danieley, singing 'I Get My Music From My Dad.' Right after, John Kander was introduced on stage by the MC for the evening, Sean Hartley. Kander's 82, and very bashful and lovely. They sat down at the far side of the stage from me, and had a question-and-answer session. Interesting stuff, though Hartley rushed Kander a bit, I thought (probably conscious of the runtime).
Right after that, it was David's first number, with Debra Monk (yeah, it was a total
Curtainsfest - Karen Ziemba and Jill Paice were there along with DHP, JD, and DM). The song was 'Sara Lee' - lyrics
HERE. David started singing about his love for a girl named Sara Lee, who, it transpires, is a manufacturer of delish baked goods. Debra came on stage in baker's garb, and I realised it's a number they've done before, at
Come to the Cabaret. Very funny, charming song, with much fey dancing and crotch puns.
(A note on David's singing - he is fookin'
good. I saw
Curtains twice in 2007, and thought his singing was decent, if not amazing. But last night, he sounded gorge. I don't know if the songs were chosen to suit his range, or if he sounds better than in
Curtains because he's not having to sing every night and therefore not straining his voice, or if he's just been practising loads. But he sounds like a proper singer, not just an actor-turned-singer.)
Anyway, that was the only number David had in the first half. Other highlights include Debra Monk's awesome rendition of 'Everybody's Girl' from
Steel Pier, Jason Danieley's visibly emotionally straining performance of 'The Only One' from
The Visit, and Marin Mazzie's gusto-laden 'Ring Them Bells' (backed up by hubby Jason on bells).
Jason Danieley did 'I Miss the Music' from
Curtains early into the second act. It was pretty emotional, as it's a song Kander wrote about his late writing partner Fred Ebb, and Kander was wiping away tears during it. Jason ran over and gave him a hug after the song - kinda cute, but it opened the floodgates. After that, every performer made a speech declaring their love for Kander and gave him a great big hug after their song (though David just settled for a handshake).
Debra Monk and Chita Rivera did 'Class' from
Chicago, and right after that, DHP came onstage. One of the ladies said "There goes the worm!" I was like, "Oi, how dare you say that to DHP!" but it turns out that this was actually some cut dialogue from
Chicago. DHP then went on to perform a rarely-heard song, 'Ten Per Cent' (lyrics
HERE). The character he was singing as, a theatrical agent, was in early drafts of
Chicago, but ultimately cut. The song was a lot of fun, and DHP's performance was spectacularly sleazy. I wasn't sure if it was embarrassing or hilarious (probably a mix of the two). The gist of it was: 'yeah, I'm not the star, but I get my ten per cent, and I had lobster for dinner last night - what did
you have?' Kander liked the performance, anyway, and said that if they ever revive that character, "David, I hope you're free."
Debra Monk, who I am now slightly in love with, did 'It's A Business' from
Curtains. Beforehand, she came on stage and introduced herself as "Debbie Kander, wife to John Kander ... I'm going to keep saying that until it's true." Someone's mobile phone went off when she was describing how great Kander is, some bizarre tropical tune, and she started dancing along - quite hilarious, and a nice change from the many stories you hear of actors yelling "Shut up!" at audiences with ringing phones.
David came on after Debra saying "That brings back lots of memories, all of them good." Said 'It's a Business' in no way sums up Kander's approach to musical theatre, that he brings such love to the process. Then introduced his next song - 'Your Face On My Pillow', which he said Kander wrote 32 years ago when he met his partner, Albert. Very simple, heartfelt love song, about how life's trials are bearable because at the end of the day "I'll be lying face to face with you." In sharp contrast his previous two songs, where he danced and larked about the stage, David sang this one just standing at the mic. Very intimate and lovely. Annoying, I can't find the lyrics anywhere online.
Right afterwards, Karen Ziemba came onstage and blew everyone's socks off with an acoustic version of 'New York New York.' Chita Rivera finished off the night with a quick Q&A and 'All That Jazz.'
Totally worth the forty bucks.