Review: Romance And The Silky Voice Of ALTON FITZGERALD WHITE Were In The Air For A VALENTINE'S CELEBRATION At 54 Below

Heigh-Ho, My Merry Rainbow readers! Bobby Patrick, your RAINBOW Reviewer here. Putting the silent T in cabareT to bring you ALL the Tea!

TBH, my DAHLINGS, Valentine's Day has never been big on Bobby's Holiday Hit Parade. Honestly, we all still have to go to work so - "holiday" it is not. But Monday night, Bobby's boss-man, Stephen Mosher, had to pass a show review over to us, last minute, and we found our Valentine Grinchy derriere seated at a table at the lovely 54 Below for Alton Fitzgerald White: A VALENTINE'S CELEBRATION. True, Monday was the 13th and here we are typing away on the ACTUAL VD, (see - told ya... have to work) so what's to complain? Well, after hearing the silky romantic tones of Mr. White, there are no complaints from this rainbow reviewer. AFW has been a staple of our musical theatre stage since the early 90s, and a triple veteran of Disney's THE LION KING, having assumed the role of Mufasa at both the New Amsterdam and Minskoff theatres as well as on the road for something like 10(ish) years total. A powerful baritone with the skills to modulate from the softest pianissimos to passionate fortissimos and back again, Mr. White held forth on a tight 9-song (plus an encore) setlist that he delivered with the straightforward purity of a maestro. With music director/pianist Doyle Newmyer for support, the two gentlemen made for an exceptional partnership, especially at the moment when AFW felt the end of one of his numbers was not up to scratch, and with a subtle look, the two repeated the last 8, allowing him to nail it. While no songs from THE LION KING were sung, the program included wonderful renditions from the Disney canon. THE LITTLE MERMAID's (Broadway) HER VOICE, was a particularly romantic favorite for the V-Day celebrations, as was his soaring Alladin love fest, A WHOLE NEW WORLD. This rainbow writer, though, must call out a non-Disney moment as the best of the evening when, sitting on a stool, AFW delivered a whisper-soft interpretation of Mandel & Francis' THE SHADOW OF YOUR SMILE. Even as the light jazz rhythms boosted the tempo slightly, the sensation of always telling the song's story was there to be felt, as well as heard.

This storytelling approach was endemic to White's entire performance. Using his fine lyric baritone with basso underpinnings, Mr. White made his jazz-infused BEING ALIVE truly exciting. The same can be said of his other mash-up of the night of two more Sondheim songs, SOMEONE IS WAITING & PRETTY WOMEN, which made it clear the man came to sing. Moving through his set list with very little patter, generally choosing to segue from one song to the next without stopping, White only occasionally talked to us or set up the next song. This gave the economic 55(ish) minutes a real river-like flow, as we all moved downstream on the stories he told in the music. Near the end of his set though, Mr. White took a moment to express his gratitude to everyone in the house, just for being there. Thanking us all for spending our precious TIME with him, it seemed no one could have been more grateful to an audience for their attention. Wrapping the show with Flaherty & Ahrens' WHEELS OF A DREAM from RAGTIME, a show Little Bobby saw a few times back in the day, we were ablt to recall his performance as Coalhouse Walker and the tears we shed watching him sing this climactic number. We may have also shed those same tears Monday night... MAYBE!

As you can tell, my lovelies, Alton Fitzgerald White had this reporter in the palm of his hand at 54 Below, and though we generally poopoo St. Valentine and his dippy drippy non-holiday, we felt the romance of the night from this superb performer's voice... a voice that gets our happy valentine's score of ...

5 out of 5 Rainbows

You can Keep Up With AFW on His Webbysite: HERE

Check Out The Full Calendar For 54 Below: HERE

All Photos By Yours Truly, Bobby Patrick