BWW Reviews: Hal Prince's Broadway: An Evening In Word and Song

First, a reviewer's confession: Hal Prince is one of my heroes. With him - through his shows - I've been able to travel the world and travel through history. There was ancient Rome (A Funny Thing Happened On The Way to the Forum), 1930's Germany (Cabaret) mid-20th century Argentina (Evita), the American South in early 20th-century (Parade, probably my favorite show), New York City during the 1950s (West Side Story), early 20th century Sweden A Little Night Music), and lots more times and places in lots more shows - among them (Follies, Company, Pacific Overtures, She Loves Me, Sweeney Todd.

I once had the opportunity to interview Liza Minnelli and mentioned I'd met Prince. I noted, "I feel like I met God." She laughed and said, "I know just what you mean.")

A couple of weeks ago, Prince returned to Las Vegas for the first time since his production of Phantom: The Las Vegas Spectacular closed. He came for one evening to the Smith Center for the Performing Arts. So, it was with great anticipation I went there to see Hal Prince's Broadway: An Evening In Word and Song.

The evening was a Q&A, with the questions posed by journalist Robin Leach. It was punctuated at appropriate intervals with songs from Prince's shows sung by Clint Holmes, Brent Barrett, Bruce Ewing, Kristen Hertzenberg and Nicole Pryor, under the music direction of Keith Thompson.

At 87, Prince is a marvelous raconteur whose stories and conversation make clear why he's won more Tony Awards (21) than anyone else ever did.

It is clear, too, that Hal Prince loves musical theater. He seems to deeply dislike the fact that, today, it costs hundreds and hundreds of thousands to produce a Broadway musical. He also respects the intelligence of Broadway audiences and noted that, at times, producers underestimate that intelligence.

In all, it was a wonderful, memorable evening and, one hopes that Smith Center president and CEO Myron Martin continues to provide such evenings. Las Vegans waited a long time for an arts center and Mr. Martin's oversight is ensuring that it lives up to its potential. He deserves the thanks of the entire city.

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