Review: John Lloyd Young's 54 Below Audience Loves MOSTLY SOUL: BELOVED HITS FROM MOTOWN TO BROADWAY

Over the weekend Tony Award recipient John Lloyd Young returned to 54 Below with his new show titled MOSTLY SOUL: BELOVED HITS FROM MOTOWN TO BROADWAY, playing the seven pm slot at Broadway's Living Room on both Saturday and Sunday. Performances of the show will continue at the same time through September first with a live stream event on the final night. Mr. Young is a favorite at 54 Below because he has dedicated fans who travel the world to get a chance to see him in concert, but the special draw of 54 Below (a fellow Tony Award recipient) is the intimacy of the supper club that allows the fans to get really close to John Lloyd, who enjoys the intimacy as much as the fans do. One of the pleasures of getting to be in the room with JLY is watching him interact with these dedicated devotees, not just of his work but of his, personally. Naturally, one wants to be in a room to hear John Lloyd Young sing - his is one of the miraculous vocal instruments, and there are always thrills (sometimes shocks) when engaged in the act of listening to him sing; when he is not singing, though, John Lloyd has this quirky, playful demeanor that is sometimes deliberate, other times dry, and, still, other times so laid back as to leave one wondering whether or not they should be laughing. He knows all the faces in the room and either waves at people or calls out their names during his set, and he even goes out into the audience to shake hands, flirt a little, and give the personal touch to the program - an occurrence some artists continue to eschew during the ongoing germ crisis of the times. Mr. Young doesn't seem to worry from the health crisis - he has one thing on his mind and one thing only: giving the fans what they want.

And the fans were having the time of their lives at JLY's Saturday night opening.

This new concert has a focus on soul, and although that refers to the musical selections that make up the program, John Lloyd Young puts his soul into every performance. He also puts his heart, his acting skills, and every single dramatic turn possible into his musical storytelling. No vocalist standing on the stage crooning notes in a banal emotionless manner is John Lloyd Young - he feels everything, and deeply, and allows those feelings to show on his face, in his mannerisms, and in every marvelously melodramatic note that he sings. Mr. Young mentions his Italian bloodline during his conversation with his audience, and it's clear that the influences of parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles, and the entire family have made their mark on his storytelling aesthetic - it's a pleasure to see the level of commitment Young has to the material and to his craft - it's easy to understand why he is so popular a concert performer.

And this is a concert. It's not a cabaret show. These last years the cabaret industry has been infused by concert performers, as huge concert halls became less desirable than a cozy room where singers and audience members can enjoy this kind of closeness. It has been a boon to the small venue industry but it has created a necessity to make a distinction between a cabaret show and a concert. John Lloyd Young is a concert performer; there is no story, no arc, no script - only John Lloyd Young, his spectacular musical director (backup singer and duet partner) Tommy Faragher, and a setlist of songs that he rotates in and out of every performance (oh, yes, each night is a different collection of songs, much to the benefit of fans who wish to attend more than one performance), including some quite promising original compositions that Tommy and John Lloyd have created for a new album. In between the sometimes unbelievable musical performances of songs like (a sensational) "Hurt" and (a breathtaking) "My Prayer" John Lloyd just kind of meanders, both around the stage and in his patter. It's ok. It's ok because it is on brand - it's pretty clear that John Lloyd is being his authentic self during thes chats with the crowd, which just makes him all the more lovable.

Nothing, though, could make John Lloyd Young more lovable than the evening highlight, a performance of the Nell Carter arrangement of "Mean To Me" from the Broadway play AIN'T MISBEHAVIN' that was, frankly, shocking. All these years we've been listening to John Lloyd sing his Jersey Boys hits (naturally, included in this show), some rock and roll, some pop music, some r&b, and even some musical theater, but this is an iconic arrangement and performance by one of Broadway's most beloved entertainers. Nobody could have ever imagined that John Lloyd Young would take something like this on and soar so successfully at it. It was a revelation and this writer hopes it will become a part of every show he does, moving forward, because everybody needs to hear and witness this performance, live, not on the YouTube machine. It is just stunning.

MOSTLY SOUL is a fun night of entertainment and a great night of music, and although one can always count on the fans being there (one woman in the front row confessed to Young IRT that she had traveled from the United Kingdom for the concert), Manhattan residents and guests of this fair city should easily be swayed into attending one of the remaining concerts this week because the chance to hear one of the great voices in person should not be passed up - and this is one of the great voices. Be warned though: if you do go to the show, lean into it. Don't resist, don't hold back, and don't hesitate. John Lloyd Young really loves this and he really loves his audiences - he wants to talk to them, to play with them, to get out into the room with them, and have some fun with them. Resistance is pointless, so lean into the Las Vegas of it all, shout, hoot, holler, clap, cheer, and get up and dance - it's all a part of the John Lloyd Young experience... so experience it.

John Lloyd Young MOSTLY SOUL: BELOVED HITS FROM MOTOWN TO BROADWAY plays 54 Below nightly at seven pm through September first. HERE is the link for reservations and THIS is the link for the Live Stream on September first.

John Lloyd Young has a website HERE.

Photos by Stephen Mosher

Visit the Stephen Mosher website HERE.

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