Review: ONE NIGHT ONLY: AN EVENING WITH SUTTON FOSTER AND KELLI O'HARA Consistent With Past Carnegie Hall Greatness

The history of show business is rich with reports of those “once in a lifetime” events, the evenings that people always talk about with a strong sense of pride and nostalgia, especially when it comes to New York show business and, to break it down even further, Carnegie Hall.  Of course, the most prominent of those Carnegie Hall legends is the Judy Garland concert of 1961, but among all of the other legendary nights in the venerated venue, there is another that stands out to many and that is the night they filmed Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall.  The concert was filmed specifically to be a television special, and although that TV special got mixed notices from the reviewers, the soundtrack gave the program a life all its own, a life that lived and grew into something of a legend until, finally, the film began surfacing on the internet by way of YouTube, Vimeo, and even some bootleg dvd pressings.  The fans of the special were finally able to see that which they had, for so long, idolized.

Two of those fans are Sutton Foster and Kelli O’Hara.  And Kelli and Sutton got to live out their Julie and Carol fantasies last Friday night, November 17th, when they were given a chance to play with the Pops at Carnegie Hall.  In their opening remarks, the two Tony Award winners did, indeed, declare that their evening of entertainment was created in tribute to the Andrews and Burnett special, citing their mutual lifelong devotion to both actresses and to their Carnegie concert from sixty-one years into the past.  Well.  It all made sense.  I mean, let’s face it, when making up the list of Broadway stars that should do a concert together, one doesn’t make the immediate leap to tap dancing and belting Foster working alongside lilting lyrical soprano O’Hara.  And that would be the first mistake because these ladies are dynamite together.  Let’s say it boldly: DYNAMITE.  They are the heirs apparent to the Julie and Carol duo show throne, and anyone who thought otherwise before Friday night most definitely had a solid helping of crow when they got home because ONE NIGHT ONLY: AN EVENING WITH Sutton Foster AND KELLI O’HARA was sen-bloody-sational.

For their special concert with The New York Pops, Kelli and Sutton enlisted Dick Scanlan to write and direct (with additional writing credit going to Kate James), and whether Scanlan sat down with Foster and O’Hara and worked out the script together, or just took the blueprint of the three Julie And Carol specials (one at Lincoln Center and one at the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles) and built this show, the foundation off of which the ladies were working was precise and it was perfect.  The duets were playful of attitude but impeccable of musicality, each actress had solos while her chum changed outfits, there were skits, laughs, and crystal clear, palpable friendship.  Together they were goofballs and they were sisters, they were actresses and they were stars.  They did the Epic Medley, the same as Julie and Carol (Kelli and Sutton chose the pop music of the Nineties) and even while singing their faces off during the mashup, they were pranking and pratfalling.  The structure and aesthetic of the program was an exact homage to that which had inspired them both, lo, these many years, including a reproduction of the “Big D” number from the OG special, and Sutton Foster’s performance of Carol’s torchy “Meantime” that we’ve all listened to on vinyl, on CD, and, now, on digital platforms.  It was, from start to finish, an exquisite and elegant entertainment, always prompting a smile and a laugh, eliciting a sigh or a squeal, and commanding the attention of the sold-out Carnegie Hall auditorium.  This was an evening so magnificent, so unique, so memorable that one can’t help but wish that it had actually been filmed to be turned into a bona fide TV special for Netflix, Amazon Prime, PBS or HBO.  There’s no touching it - it was the event of the year.

With marvelous Maestro Steven Reineke leading the spectacular New York Pops orchestra (so amazing) and their own, personal, musical directors (Dan Lipton for Kelli O’Hara and Michael Rafter for Sutton Foster), the modern-day versions of Andrews and Burnett sounded almost otherworldly on their musical numbers, particularly their duets, where their voices blended to create the richest, most luscious harmonies one could ever hope of hearing in this hallowed hall.  The Act One finale, an appropriate “Fable” from The Light In The Piazza, had been arranged for the two women in such a manner as to completely reinvent the composition, achieving the impossible and adding even greater depth of emotion and musicality than the original.  It was an evening highlight, but, then, their Act Two finale matched it, at least for touching hearts, as the two adoring friends sat on the lip of the Stage Holding hands and singing “Til There Was You” while being backed by a ukulele.  No person in the hall could have felt anything less than love for the two artists and friends.  This was no mere one-off, this was a production destined for bigger things, like a Broadway run - it was too meticulously put together for just one night (including an ensemble made up of Erica Mansfield, Eric Sciotto, Sherisse Springer, and Anthony Wayne, with Sciotto billed as choreographer). 

For their solos, each lady (both looking gorgeous in a series of gowns and two stunning pant suits) stayed authentic to herself, with Ms. O’Hara going for Sondheim and Porter and (thank goodness) her opening number from The Bridges of Madison County (an essential in any Kelli O’Hara concert) and Ms. Foster going for laughs, belts, and a breathtaking performance of the Joni Mitchell classic “A Case Of You” that drew cheers from the crowd.  And even though those solos were supremely satisfying, there was always a jolt of joy when the women were reunited for more merriment and music.  Whether out there on that enormous stage alone with that eighty piece orchestra (the internet says 78) , or whether standing, voguing, doing the polka, or chatting with two surprise guests on the god mic, Sutton Foster and Kelli O’Hara are this season’s dream team, and, hopefully, the dream team for many seasons to come, for they can brighten many theaters, many nights, and many lives with encores of this show or new concerts that they and Dick Scanlon create together.  There is simply no touching them.

As my escort for the evening and I were passing through the Carnegie Hall lobby, heading out into the crisp air of the autumnal New York night and passing many Carnegie guests, sated and happy, we overheard one patron say that which summed up the entire experience:  “Now, it feels like the holidays!”  And, wordlessly, my date and I just looked at each other and smiled and nodded.  Yeah.  It really did.

Richard Termine's photos were provided by Carnegie Hall and the New York Pops.

See Kelli and Sutton's other fashion choices from the concert in THIS photo essay by Broadway World's photographic artist Genevieve Rafter Keddy.

Visit the Kelli O'Hara website HERE and the Sutton Foster website HERE.

THIS is the Carnegie Hall site and THIS is the New York Pops page.

 

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