Review: At Carnegie Hall Jeremy Jordan Gives Us ONE NIGHT ONLY And Boy Are We Mad! (About Him)

Heigh-Ho Friends & "Family"! Bobby Patrick your RAINBOW Reviewer here. Putting the silent T in CABARET to bring you all the T.

"But Bobby!" you say, "How come you're reviewing a show that played Carnegie Hall... We'll say that again... Carnegie Hall!!" Well, my angels, it IS true Bobby tends to remain in the darker downtown corners of the cabaret world, but that doesn't mean she can't slip on a pair of pumps and a bow tie and take her act uptown... for just 2 words... Jeremy Jordan! 'Nuff said there, right...? Jeremy Jordan! "Ok Bobby," you say, "But enough with the {...'s}!" FINE!

So, Friday night's ONE NIGHT ONLY concert at the illustrious Carnegie Hall, with the New York Pops opening their 37th season as his back up band, Jeremy Jordan took the stage to thrill, dazzle, seduce and well... Sing! (Last ... I promise.) It is very apropos to say that, among male Broadway singers, Jeremy Jordan is second to none in all the categories of vocal greatness. He has a seemingly limitless tenor range that lets him hit the highest notes any composer would dare to write for the tenor voice, and acting chops that are subtle, layered, even understated but that still manage to reach the back row a half a split second ahead of those notes. Talent meets star power in this young man in so many significant ways and has been doing so since his early 20's when he went into the 2009 West Side Story revival as the alternate Tony, taking on 2 performances per week -- two Show Tony they dubbed him. From there it was on to understudy/swing for Rock Of Ages, and then the show that was sure to be a huge career explosion, Bonnie & Clyde. Well, that show exploded alright, 36 performances and done. But next came Newsies and that's when we all went "WHO DIS?"

But oh the ease and grace of the man. The charm and the FACE of the man. As he took the stage in a gorgeous taupe suit with the nerdiest smile beaming out to all of us in the chairs, he kicked off with West Side Story's "Something's Coming" with Steven Reineke's masterful baton supporting him through every note. Jordan's excitement and his nerve lifted the rafters even in the soft final note on the word "Toniiiiiiiight". From there, as they say, we were off to the races. His powerful understatement for his next number, the iconic "Broadway Here I Come" from the TV show SMASH had the teens in the audience cheering and the older set... well we were cheering too. There was indeed a very wide age range attending on the night: music lovers and Jeremy lovers, and there was nothing to disappoint either set. The POPS took a turn or two as well, having kicked off the evening with Shostakovich's aptly named Festive Overture and then a mid Act I orchestra rendition of Begin The Beguine, where the famous melody line, usually played on the clarinet, was surprisingly given over to the Oboe. A nifty surprise for those who know and love that Cole Porter gem.

Bobby can just go on and on raving about La Jeremy, for each and every number was golden, even in the two instances where he lost his lyrics and had to be prompted by Reineke. The gentlemen handled the slip-ups with candor and comedy-team timing that served to just put us all even more on their side. Other highlights included Rogers & Hammerstein's EPIC "Soliloquy" from Carousel, dedicated to Jordan's 6-month-old (this week) daughter Clara, where daddy's range was put to full use in a song that John Rait called "A 3 act opera." And wouldn't you just know it dearlings, he also sang a song he wrote! There has been talk of his putting together a solo CD and he admitted to working on it, slowly, and once he regaled us with his heartwrenching "Undertow' everyone in the audience was ready to buy that CD. It seems his talent really knows no bounds. With a haunting melody, the theme of life being an ocean, and a lyric like, "I lost my love in the undertow," Jordan showed a depth of musical composition that, coupled with that voice of his, touched every heart in the sold-out Carnegie Hall. For real darlings, I and my date were wiping away tears at the song's conclusion. Then, in a turn of events not really notated in the program, he introduced Mrs. Jeremy Jordan, the incomparably lovely Ashley Spencer, to duet with him on a mash-up of "More Than Words" and "Heaven." These two songs featured in Rock of Ages suited this pair beautifully, as it was that Broadway show that brought them together. In a tale of real romance we got to hear how the Jordan's met when Ashley reached out (ON FACEBOOK - COULD YOU DIE!?) and asked Jeremy, who was appearing in the show already, for pointers on her upcoming ROA replacement/understudy audition. Love-at-first-sight bit them both and she got the show and the guy! Not exactly at the same time, as he left ROA before she came on board, but love bloomed. Ashley, a veteran of Hairspray, Grease and Priscilla Queen Of The Desert is now a mommy that little Clara should pay a couple of bucks to every time mommy sings a lullaby. This is one talented household because nary a breath was drawn as these two sang their love.

Steven Reineke masterfully followed that act with the Pops Menken Medley, an orchestral mash-up of SIXTEEN songs penned by Broadway and Disney legend Alan Menken that included music from Hercules, Little Mermaid, and Newsies. And speaking of Newsies, you all just KNOW our hero had to conclude the program with a deep, reverential nod to Jack Kelly, the tough-talking, heart of gold paperboy from the show that gave us all of Jordan's youthful star power. His Santa Fe was a fabulously fitting finale to the evening but, the evening didn't end there. For his encore, he returned to the stage with the lovely Ashley Spencer to duet again, this time in a medley of songs from shows "That we want to do." Included was the duo giving us a bit of his Fiero and her Elphaba from Wicked, and don't let La Spencer's "Glinda" looks fool you my pets, she, for reals, has Elphaba pipes.

Now do not dispair my angels over the show's ONE NIGHT ONLY title for Here Comes Mr. Jordan (see what I did there?) to Feinstein's/54 Below for 12, COUNT THEM 12, dates February 12-29. Links will be below to give you all the deets Dear Hearts. And, as you can probably tell from this raving of raves ... (tee hee) Bobby gives Jeremy Jordan 5 out of 5 Rainbows.

Jeremy Jordan's website is: HERE
His YouTube is: HERE
Instagram is: HERE

Facebook is: HERE

And Twitter him: Here

Feinstein's/54 Below's February Calendar is: HERE

And to catch up on all things New York Pops, see their website: HERE

To post a comment, you must register and login.