Review: New York Pops Gala Concert Salutes Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg

Though they call the Broadway era of sung-through mega-musicals that began dominating Times Square in the 1980s The British Invasion, a French composer and a Tunisian bookwriter/lyricist had quite a bit to do with it.

As the creators of LES MISERABLES and MISS SAIGON, which came to Broadway via producer Cameron Mackintosh's London productions, the influence of librettist Alain Boublil and composer Claude-Michel Schönberg is still felt today, both in new musicals by others that tell grand stories with pop-influenced scores of operatic scales and in revivals of their own work. LES MISERABLES is currently enjoying its third visit to Broadway and the first Gotham revival of MISS SAIGON is on its way from the West End.

With Mackintosh perched above in Carnegie Hall's first tier, artistic director and conductor Steven Reineke led the sterling New York Pops in a 33rd Anniversary gala concert honoring Boublil and Schönberg that featured an impressive collection of guest vocalists who have all had a connection with one of the pair's shows. The program was titled "Do You Hear The People Sing?" and as the pair are noted for writing material that is both vocally and emotionally demanding, it was loaded with big voices and passionate acting.

After opening with a Reineke-arranged overture, the program was divided into sections representing each of their five collaborations. Music director Judith Clurman's Essential Voices USA, stationed upstage to provide choral work throughout the evening, introduced the MISS SAIGON tribute with "The Heat Is On In Saigon," followed by Eva Noblezada, star of the 2014 West End revival, singing "I'd Give My Life For You." The original Broadway production's star, Lea Salonga, joined her for "The Movie In My Mind."

Jeremy Jordan belted out "Why, God, Why?" followed by Terrence Mann's deliciously slimy "The American Dream" (with the lyric tweaked to remove any reference to the character's nationality) and Steven Pasquale's impassioned "Bui Doi."

Though MARTIN GUERRE won the Olivier for Best Musical, it has yet to arrive on Broadway. Hugh Panaro, who starred in the American tour, let loose with "I'm Martin Guerre," and Stephanie J. Block demonstrated why her performance in THE PIRATE QUEEN was so well received with "Woman."

Before LES MISERABLES, Boublil and Schönberg premiered their partnership with LA REVOLUTION FRANCAISE. Marie Zamora sang a captivating "In The Early Morn" in French; the dramatic ballad sung by Marie Antoinette before her execution. She then sang the French lyric to LES MISERABLES' "On My Own" as a duet with Salonga, who sang in English. Norm Lewis repeated his stirring performance as Javert in the musical's 2006 revival with "Stars" and then returned to the stage for the dramatic "Confrontation" between his character and Jean Valjean. To the surprise of most of the house, it was Reineke himself who sang the duet opposite him, displaying a strong tenor.

A regular feature of New York Pops' concerts is to welcome children served by New York's Ronald McDonald House. Laura Osnes and Marcus D'Angelo, who current plays Gavroche in the show's New York production, led an ensemble of them in "Little People," which was once a full song in LES MISERABLES but now is included with just a few lines.

Patti LuPone and Jesse Tyler Ferguson provided comic antics for "Master Of The House" and LuPone was joined by Block and Salonga for a trio of "I Dreamed A Dream." They were followed by Panaro, Eric Kunze, Robert Marien and John Owen-Jones making a sublime quartet out of "Bring Him Home."

Naturally, the evening concluded with a full-company performance of "One Day More," followed by a stirring encore of "The People's Song," a/k/a "Do You Hear The People Sing?"

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