BWW Reviews: Josh Canfield and Reed Kelly Charm with FROM BROADWAY TO SURVIVOR

Winter Storm Juno almost put a stop to Josh Canfield and Reed Kelly's 54 BELOW concerts this week, but these Broadway boyfriends and competitors from CBS's "Blood versus Water" themed Survivor: San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua were not fazed. For Canfield and Kelly's From Broadway to Survivor cabaret, the charming couple shared with audiences their New York experiences, love story, and their vibrant talents. This made for a fun night of Broadway showmanship that amused the collected audience.

The talented duo kicked off their showcase with a charismatic rendition of "A Couple of Song and Dance Men" (Irving Berlin), with Kelly doing the Fred Astaire part and Canfield tackling the Bing Crosby role. Even with their high energy, it was pretty obvious that Kelly was not in the best vocal health. This became all the more apparent during his mash-up of "The Wizard and I" (Stephen Schwartz), "Pulled" (Andrew Lippa), "Boy Falls From the Sky" (Bono, The Edge), and "Defying Gravity" (Schwartz). On this whimsical mash-up of tunes from his Broadway credits, Kelly was struggling with pitch despite giving the performance every ounce of gusto he could muster. However, he found his way through "Crazier Than You" (Lippa), performing opposite fellow The Addams Family cast alum Krysta Rodriguez.

Canfield deftly delivered the next performance, mashing up "I Got Life" (Galt MacDermot/James Rado and Gerome Ragni), "Any Dream Will Do" (Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice), and "Beautiful City" (Schwartz). Alternating between soulful, rock, and softly crooned tenor vocals, Canfield wowed the audience with his multifaceted instrument. Then, with the aid of Lauren Zakrin, he performed stirring renditions of "No One Else" (Dave Malloy) and "Letters" (Malloy) from the Off-Broadway hit musical Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, in which he was cast. These two songs allowed both Canfield and Zakrin to show off their ability to sing beautiful aria-like ballads and edgy, theatrical rock music.

Then Elizabeth Judd joined them for a cute cover of "Been a Long Day" (Frank Loesser) from How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, which they used to more-or-less describe how a mutual friend set them up. This was followed by a rendition of "Best Worst Mistake" (Tom Kitt/Brian Yorkey). Next, Canfield sung an evocative and heartwarming song from his musical, I am a Zombie. In the number the female protagonist comes to terms with her love for a zombie, which mirrors Canfield's setting aside his conservative upbringing and allowing himself to love Kelly. Kelly made the audience laugh, signing a song about how he thinks about sex; however, he really came into his own and shimmered while signing "What More Can I Say" (William Finn). Despite sounding congested, he used a controlled belt and his soothing baritone voice to add emotion to the iconic and beloved number.

To start closing the show, the duo sang a series of fun and lighthearted songs. They had the audience chuckling with their rendition of "Anything You Can Do" (Berlin). They set new lyrics to "Waiting for Life (To Begin)" (Stephen Flaherty/Lynn Ahrens), making the song about their experience on CBS's Survivor. Then, Canfield gave us a glimpse of his future, signing a beautiful arrangement of several songs from the upcoming Broadway musical Doctor Zhivago. They closed the set with a warm and loving rendition of "It Had to Be You" (Isham Jones/Gus Kahn). Yet, the best surprise was when Canfield surprised Kelly with an original song for their encore, which ended in Canfield proposing to Kelly in front of the audience.

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