Review: THE BROADWAY PRINCE PARTY is a Wish Come True at Feinstein's/54 Below

Like a juicy apple before it's riddled with poison or an unexpected feast hosted by a talking candelabra, THE BROADWAY PRINCE PARTY couldn't have been more delicious.

At the first of two shows at Feinstein's/54 Below on October 17, the emcees of the event, Aladdin (Adam Jacobs of ALADDIN and THE LION KING) and Fiero (Derek Klena of ANASTASIA and WICKED), kicked off the storybook confection from the back of the room, singing "Agony" (Stephen Sondheim) from INTO THE WOODS as they made their way to the stage.

After the pair revealed it was actually a meeting for their royal support group, Broadway Princes Anonymous, the other princes were then called up one by one with pageant-esque introductions, like "Heave, ho, and say hello to Prince Eric." Nothing says "anonymous" like a customized intro.

Sure, the concept may have been a bit flimsy, considering, but that hardly mattered.

With their relationship gripes and showbiz references to singing 16 bars, half-step key changes and EVER AFTER's James Snyder whining that it's hard to find a girl because "there are, like, six people and the rest are ensemble," it felt like a highly entertaining peek behind the scenes of Disney World the park visitors weren't supposed to see.

Still, some vignettes worked better than others. While cute at first, as Tarzan, Kevin Massey's faux confusion about the New York theatre scene began to grow tiresome right around the time he pulled out a banana for a phone. But he more than made up for it with the performance of "Strangers Like Me" (Phil Collins) from---of course---TARZAN.

Pausing midway through the song to share a "hypothetical" story about performing the show in Germany with only a week and a half to learn the lyrics in a foreign language, he killed with the crowd, belting out the last lines of the song in German and a hint of "You'll Be in My Heart", too.
Smarming it up as he sang WICKED's "Dancing Through Life" (Stephen Schwartz), an excellent Klena also began dancing through the crowd, smooth as butter. Even the weaker segments, like Hercules (Nic Rouleau) thinking he was attending the "Broadway Price Party" to discuss THE BOOK OF MORMON, were genial and performed expertly.

The show also wasn't afraid to subvert expectations. Of course, the crowd lost it when the first princess---ALADDIN's Jasmine (Courtney Reed)---popped up. But they weren't serving up "A Whole New World." Instead, they delivered an excellent rendition of "Out of Thin Air" (Menken) from ALADDIN AND THE KING OF THIEVES, or, as Reed referred to it, their "second straight-to-VHS sequel."

In fact, the show truly excelled when the princes tried turning a new page. Having Cinderella part ways with Rodgers & Hammerstein's Prince Topher, only to run into INTO THE WOODS's Cinderella's Prince (and refer to him as "INTO THE WOODS's Cinderella's Prince" while also painting him as a letch) was a pleasant way to shake up the songs and stories everyone in that room already knew.

That extended to Klena, who left Fiero behind to perform as his newest character, Dmitry, from the upcoming musical adaptation of ANASTASIA. For his performance of "A Prince in Their World," a parody version of "Part of Your World" (Menken) from THE LITTLE MERMAID, he played up Dmitry's inferiority complex about not being an actual prince. It may be rough going through life not know how to grow sideburns, but his pain was the crowd's distinct pleasure.

That's not to say the audience didn't love a faithful riff on an old favorite. Almost no performer received as intense applause as Raymond J. Lee (ANYTHING GOES), who macho-man'd his way through MULAN's "I'll Make a Man Out of You" (Matthew Wilder).

Donning a golden sash, a fur-free Prince Adam (Ryan Silverman) from BEAUTY AND THE BEAST was another standout. With his booming rendition of "If I Can't Love Her" (Menken), he seemed too big a presence for the small Feinstein's/54 Below stage.

And it wasn't just the varied performance styles and surprise princesses that kept it from feeling like fairytale karaoke night. What truly made the show sing was an amazing assist from the "Fairy Godfairy" himself, musical director Benjamin Rauhala, who also played piano. With a quick quip, Rauhala consistently kept things light (and on the rails), reminding a prince of a dropped line here or there and even singing a bar or two.

Like Klena, Jacobs also pulled double duty, reprising his one-time role of Simba, performing a mash-up of ALADDIN's "Proud of Your Boy" (Menken) and THE LION KING's "Endless Night" (Lebo M, Hans Zimmer, and Jay Rifkin). Before leaving the crowd to their happily-ever-afters, he called the other princes back to the stage for a breezy group take on "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" (Elton John/Tim Rice).

Before they began, one of the princes remarked on the song's title, saying, "Because we won't be princes forever!" Wittingly or not, it seemed to be every bit as much about the performers as it was about the kings-in-training they were playing. Yet with a show this fun, hopefully, the day to hang up their capes, part ways, and ride off into the sunset is a far-off one.

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