Review: Clint Holmes Astonishes 54 Below Audience With BETWEEN THE MOON AND NEW YORK CITY

Peter Allen was the biggest star in the world, during his heyday; or, at least, he was one of the biggest, right up there with Miss Ross, The Funny Girl, Misha, and a lady with whom he had a passing association, Liza With a Z. A recording artist with a distinctive but not particularly pretty voice, a performer with a flamboyant take-no-prisoners style, and a songwriter with an ability to light up the darkest reaches of the heart, Peter Allen spent a few blissful years stamping around the music industry like some pop star Bette Davis, leaving his mark and loving every minute of it. The joy and exuberance visible any time that Peter Allen appeared on the stage, on the television or anywhere else in the world, was palpable and infectious. People loved him, and well they should have.

There is visible joy and exuberance and love (and maybe even a little bit of stamping around like Bette Davis) happening these days during the Clint Holmes show titled BETWEEN THE MOON AND NEW YORK CITY: THE SONGS OF Peter Allen. Mr. Holmes, a highly successful and respected singer-songwriter, actually knew Peter Allen, had a personal relationship with him, and has fond reminiscences about the Oscar winner and Standing Room Only headliner of both Carnegie and Radio City Music Halls. And even though his personal relationship with the late boy from Oz should be the leading characteristic guiding his Peter Allen show, what makes Mr. Holmes the perfect person to be performing this material is his own flair, his own style, his own panache, his own individual sense of the theatrical, for Clint Holmes, like Peter Allen, is a man and an artist that is larger than life, with the talent to back it up.

Listening to a Clint Holmes record album, one can easily get a sense of what a gifted singer he is. The voice is pretty, the emotional connection to the lyrics and the melodies is prevalent, and the sense of storytelling rhythm is intricate. A Clint Holmes album can be enjoyed over and over, without ever growing tired of the experience. But to see Clint Holmes live is to be taken on a ride, not a carnival ride, not an amusement park ride, but a ride through life in Eighty minutes. From the moment Mr. Holmes landed on the stage at 54 Below on Wednesday night, there was a charge in the air as he ate life, art, music, and every single facet of Peter Allen's catalogue. To see a singing artist hurl themselves into the story they are being told, with this much force, is not completely rare, for they are out there, but it, most certainly, does not happen every day of the week, and an audience filled with celebrities was beyond appreciative of Clint Holmes' assertive need to tell these stories. With his sweet, rich, beautiful voice and his unapologetic theatricality, Clint Holmes kept his connection to the audience strong and Herculean; even in the wistful, sorrowful, or soulful moments, when the lyrics demanded that he gaze off into the lights, speak low, be still, there was an invisible thread from Clint to the people in the seats out front, like a hand holding yours, even as you, yourself, are gazing at the horizon. That connection was never, not once, broken, and it was a connection that reached out in many directions, not just to the people in the seats, because his rapport with his exceptional band was downright brotherly, and he always, at every moment, had Peter Allen by his side. (It is worth saying that the four-piece band sounded like an entire orchestra).

Now, on the subject of Peter Allen in the Clint Holmes Peter Allen show... Peter Allen was very prolific during his time, with chart-topping hits sung by other artists, some success of his own in the recording studio, and the Oscar win for "Arthur's Theme: The Best That You Can Do." But the fact of the matter is that, to today's general public, Peter Allen is sadly forgotten to too many, an artist whose legacy is cherished by those who were there to witness his success in real-time. That shouldn't be, and with a show like Between The Moon and New York City playing clubs and concert halls, not only will Clint Holmes keep Peter Allen's legacy alive, he will breathe some much-needed Allen into the lives of some who may have no knowledge of his work. With his exciting performances like "Bi-Coastal" and "Fly Away," Clint Holmes is making Peter Allen cool again. By touching audience members' hearts with reminiscences leading into ballads like "Don't Cry Out Loud" and "Tenterfield Saddler," Clint Holmes is presenting an authentic image of Peter Allen. Even with the musical play The Boy From Oz people don't think of Peter Allen, they think of Hugh Jackman, but Clint Holmes is providing a tactile representation of Peter Allen, with personal touches about Allen's inspiration for lyrics like "When you get caught between the moon and New York City, the best that you can do is fall in love," and "Quiet, please, there's a lady on stage... and she deserves a little silence," and the tales are told with such reverence, with so much admiration and respect, that it's difficult not to want to go home and do an internet search on Peter Allen, to learn and to hear more. And this is due, not only, to Holmes and his authentic and affable performance, but to the script that he and co-creator WILL NUNZIATA have crafted.

It is a pleasure to see a show that has been properly scripted and structured, and when Misters Holmes and Nunziata sat down to write Between The Moon And New York City, they, quite clearly, had an idea to write a play. Act One is Pith And Play, Act Two is The Hits of Romance, and Act Three is The Personal Touch, and Mr. Holmes has the professional experience and artistic instinct to sail through the sections seamlessly, with his unbelievably powerful voice (powerful, even in the quietest of moments) melding with Musical Director Michael Orland's sumptuous arrangements and his own interpretive skills resonating with commitment and integrity. In his first act, Holmes brings the bang, introduces Peter, and sets the tone with the big ("Not The Boy Next Door"), the lovely ("Don't Cry Out Loud"), and the playful ("The More I See You"). In the second act, Clint and Will go full-on theater with an astonishing "Six Thirty Sunday Morning" (an evening highlight) that segues into a vocal pas-de-deux between special (really special) guest artist Nikki Renée Daniels, incorporating four of Allen's biggest selling hits - it's a sketch, a vignette, a novella, all in four chart-topping hits. And Act Three doesn't just get personal for Peter, it's about Clint, too, and it's where things in the show go completely, blissfully, overwhelmingly over the top with greatness.

Like a brilliant Act Opener, Clint Holmes slips into the final segment of his show with "I Go To Rio," featuring a surprise visitor from the audience, wife Kelly Clinton-Holmes in a shockingly Ann-Margret reminiscent dance number, before calming himself down (after a spousal smooch) to talk about his own life, not Peter's - his family, his parents, and a song he has written inspired by their story, the oh-so-lovely and tremendously personal "1944" (another evening highlight, as was Kelly's fiery number). From that tender, intimate moment, Holmes returns to Allen and some of the personally-informed happenings from his life, singing songs Peter wrote about Australia, about his heritage, about Julie Wilson and Judy Garland, and throughout it all, Clint Holmes remains funny, vulnerable, open, honest, and accessible. It really is one of the most professional, well-rehearsed, and slick shows that this writer has ever seen, harkening back to the days when Peter Allen, himself, ruled the concert stages, when artists like Miss Ross, The Funny Girl, and Liza With a Z sat down with their creative team and storyboarded their shows, mapped out a journey, and created theater for the concert stage.

Between The Moon And New York City is a tribute show, but it isn't a tribute show to Peter Allen. Peter Allen is the inspiration, Peter Allen is the foundation, and Peter Allen is the creator of the score, but Between The Moon And New York City is a tribute to live entertainment, to quality cabaret, to professional performers, to nights out that feel like an event and not just a way to pass the time before going to bed. Between The Moon And New York City is a tribute to the great entertainers who have come before and who have inspired others to go into the business of show, and it is a concert ideally suited to Clint Holmes because he, himself, is one of those great entertainers, just like Peter Allen, and anybody who has the great, good fortune to see a performance of this musical cabaret play will be genuinely, sincerely, and authentically over the moon.

The full cast and creative team for Between The Moon And New York City: The Songs Of Peter Allen is:

Michael Orland - Piano, Musical Director, Arranger

Kenny Gioffre - Saxophone, Flute

Aaron Romero - Electric Bass

Jakubu Griffin - Drummer

Nikki Renee Daniels - Guest Vocalist

Kelly Clinton-Holmes - Guest Dancer

Bill Fayne - Additional Arrangements

WILL NUNZIATA - Director, Co-Creator

Sunny Sessa - Producer

Peter Allen - Composer/Lyricist

Find great shows to see on the 54 Below website HERE.

Visit the Clint Holmes website HERE.

Photos by Stephen Mosher

Visit the Stephen Mosher website HERE.

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