Review: BROADWAY SHOWSTOPPERS WITH GLENN ROSENBLUM Part 2 at CVRep

The anticipation is high as the audience fills up to near capacity while the Palm Springs weather outside hits double-digits and record-breaking temperatures. CVRep is a great way to get away from the heat and enjoy a cool evening of entertainment.  BROADWAY SHOWSTOPPERS WITH Glenn Rosenblum is a joyful production that shifts the attention away from the depressing News and world troubles. Put this series on your Summer calendar for next year, because it’s a great escape.

When the house lights dim for the lecture the theme is unknown until he reveals it at the start of the show.  In July the theme is Celebrating Broadway’s Greatest Composers and Lyricists. Wordsmiths who paint vivid pictures that keep a song timeless and classic. 

A clip begins to play of Jerry Orbach and Company from 42nd Street singing “Lullaby Of Broadway” - Lyrics by Al Dubin and Music by Harry Warren - The song is a brilliant claptrap and emotional inciter of happy tears.  Next, Carousel music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II with original cast John Raitt and Jan Clayton during ‘The Bench Scene’ singing “If I Loved You”. Followed immediately by West Side Story (Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, and Arthur Laurents) with Original Cast Carol Lawrence as Maria and Larry Kert as Tony singing “Tonight” in their ‘Balcony Scene’.

Rosenblum takes to the piano and enchants his audience by playing and singing "I Belong Here" from the musical The Grand Tour with music and Lyrics by Jerry Herman.

A clever audience participation moment happens for the musical Sunset Blvd as several iconic actresses sing "As If We Never Said Goodbye" -- Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber Lyrics by Don Black; Christopher Hampton, with contributions by Amy Powers. The audience gets to vote on which Diva performed the song best?!

This is a fabulous spoken lecture about words in music. In a society that no longer seems to respect the English language, it’s refreshing to see a man like Rosenblum honor the beauty and usage of an intelligent lexicon. Expressive works remind us that music and lyrics are what feelings sound like. Stopping to really listen to the lyrics of a song is rare, but attending a full evening to work that observation muscle is another outstanding gift received at these lectures.

Rosenblum, once again, took to the piano and sang a gorgeous obscure song "Here I’ll Stay" from an equally obscure musical Love Life which only ran 252 performances – The lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and Music by Kurt Weill.

Guest stars for the evening:  Eileen Barnett who is a classic beauty sang two exquisite ballads, “Unusual Way” and “My Husband Makes Moves”; both music and lyrics written by Maury Yeston from the musical NINE. Barnett co-starred on Broadway alongside Tenor/actor Sergio Franchi for over a year.

Gwendolyn Coleman is a fireball of energy that can’t be contained or dampened. Her claim to fame is the extremely obscure musical The Magic Show.  Coleman sang two songs from the musical of illusion. First, the haunting “Lion Tamer” about wanting to be noticed by a particular someone. For her second number, Coleman stepped up to the microphone where she crossed her fingers, her toes, and her heart as if to pray she gets it right. Then proceeded to knock it out of the park and tear the roof off with “West End Avenue”.  A song with lyrics that are far too familiar for anyone seeking a successful career in show biz. In the end, finally have to pack up and leave your dreams shuttered in the dirt. The Magic Show was a one-act musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Bob Randall. It starred magician Doug Henning. It opened on Broadway on May 28, 1974, at the Cort Theatre in Manhattan, and ran for 1,920 performances, closing on December 31, 1978.  Both Henning and director Grover Dale were nominated for the TONY Award. 

Just when you think Rosenblum is finished; at the end of the lecture he pulls out an old chestnut from under the community theatre rubble and brings new insight to the off-Broadway gem You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown. The song presented is “Happiness” - music and lyrics by Clark Gesner. Before he begins Rosenblum points out how smart, wonderfully picturesque, and literate the lyrics are for what has become known as a children’s musical.

The lecture concludes with a tribute to six powerhouse musical comedy actresses who starred as Mama Rose in the musical Gypsy as they each sing, “Rose’s Turn”.  Music by Jule Styne, Lyrics Stephen Sondheim, Book by Arthur Laurents.  This proves that the right marriage of music, lyrics, and performer can turn a classic tune into a platinum-stage performance hit.

Once again, rounding out the talent is extraordinary accompanist Michael Reno who takes on the duty for each lecture to play for the special guest stars. At the finale, the cast returns to join Rosenblum with a rousing rendition of “Give My Regards To Broadway” music and lyrics by George M. Cohen.

As the audience stood shouting, cheering, with loud whistles of appreciation I wanted to reconnect with the Master Of Ceremonies; Glenn Rosenblum, and learn more about his life in Palm Springs. What does he think about local cabaret? And hear the Tea of the famous names he’s had the honor of working with.  Rosenblum is so easy to converse with because his infectious enthusiasm and knowledge for the topic of Broadway and musicals is rich and endless: As was stated before; put a quarter in the man, ask a question, sit back, and watch him go:

Gilmore: Have you tried getting a permanent weekly theatre residence for your lecture series here in Palm Springs?  Full-time for a season?

Glenn: (With a sweet self-effacing laugh and reply)  Oh, who would want to come and see me every week? 

Gilmore: During the peak season?

Glenn:  Oh, yeah, during the season... of course, I would.  You know I never lectured until 2015.  I was challenged by the head of Crystal Cruises. They wanted to hire me – they were like: “Have you ever lectured before?”   “No!”   “Have you ever done a cabaret show before?” “No! It would make me sick to my stomach!” Then they said it, “We challenge you to put both together” – so, this has become a thing.  I do it on cruises, which is really great because I love to travel.   So, a residence? Yes, I’d like to do it.

I teach in a different form to the kids at Musical Theatre University which is great. I’ll do an evening of musicals where I moderate with a guest about the various eras. With my friend Ilene Graff we talked about the musical of the 70s . They learned about Melba Moore, the stage version of Grease, and performers well before their time. I find it’s really scary that kids don’t know the history of Broadway and the important people who gave it a life.  I ask my students, “How are you going to be in a production of Hamilton, but you don’t know Jesus Christ Superstar, or Hair, and other plays that were groundbreaking at the time?  How are you going to do Hamilton which started at The Public Theatre and you know nothing about its history – they nurtured A Chorus Line – that’s good stuff to know. You have to be curious. It will certainly help you to do Mame if you know about the stock market crash. Or Hello, Dolly and what it was like to be a widow in turn of the century, New York. Sometimes I don’t think you understand... you have to be a smart performer. Have you ever seen a young performer and they have contemporary mannerisms or speech patterns?  You get the feeling they don’t understand where they fit into the history of the piece”.

Gilmore: What is your process in deciding which eras, or theme to put your shows together?

Glenn:  It starts out by knowing who I can get to guest star. Like this month with Eileen Barnett and Gwendolyn Coleman. Eileen did NINE with Sergio Franchi and Gwendolyn took over in The Magic Show.  Two of my favorite shows of all time, and those two ladies are going to be on the same night; what do they have in common?  And I thought, for me, the composers. I kidded Gwendolyn because I said, You know with the whole score of The Magic Show, but particularly your two songs “Lion Tamer” and “West End Avenue”.  “West End Avenue” was the “Defying Gravity” for people in my generation.  And Eileen Barnett in NINE that was the first time I was aware of Maury Yeston, and he kind of blew me away. So, to answer your question my focus depends on who I can get... then I see how all the pieces fit together. I don’t pre-plan... it all sort of happens organically.

Gilmore: What was it like working with Blythe Danner?

Glenn: Well, someone did his homework. It was Blythe and her husband Bruce Paltrow who directed this workshop for this jazz New Orleans musical they were working on.  I had never worked with a celebrity before... she was so kind, so nice, and very professional. It was interesting to watch her insecurities. Just because she’s Blythe Danner doesn’t mean she’s not insecure about certain aspects of her performance.  Two things I remember that I have never heard of before with her – when she wrote an opening night note to me, which I still have, she wrote “Merde”.  I have never heard that before, instead of break a leg.  And, I thought, she is so fancy.  Another thing I remember is when everyone got sore throats she gave everyone a packet of Fisherman’s Friend lozenges... never seen those before, and, again, I thought “She’s really fancy”.  And she was fancy because the cast party was at their Duplex in the East 90s off of 5th Avenue. Where you step in and it’s like a real house, and the two little Paltrow children, Gwyneth and Jake, came down to say goodnight. It was incredible to work with Bythe.  Here’s something you’ll like... my dance partner in this show was that my dance partner was a girl who just moved to New York and her name was Peri Gilpin who played Roz Doyle on the series Frasier.  Peri was my dance partner, she was non-equity, she had just done an internship at Williams Town, and said that Blythe told her that she should move to New York.  You never know who... I remember at our first rehearsal when we were being introduced to everyone Peri turned to me and said, “I’m so nervous I could shit”. And I thought, “Oh, I like this girl”.  She was good and we could never get the dances right.

Gilmore: Your television work includes an Old Navy commercial with Kristin Chenoweth? Was it just a coincidence that you got to work with an aniconic Broadway diva?

Glenn: Yes!  A total coincidence. Of course, I told her that I had seen her in Steele Pier... this was before Wicked. She was very sweet. Yeah, it was a musical commercial. Isn’t that crazy?  I make believe I’m playing the piano.  They needed a piano player and then they dubbed it. They didn’t like the live sound. It was a good experience.  It was juicy. 

Gilmore:  Do you still dream of being on Broadway?

Glenn: That’s such an interesting question. (with a sigh it was as if I had struck a chord... It took a moment for him to answer)  I wish I could remember what Faith Prince had said a few weeks ago... that she still loves it... but that the appetite is different now than it was.  Do I still dream about..?   Yes, and no. I would have loved the experience. You know, you never say never... I auditioned for a Broadway show last year... it came out of the blue, and I thought, “Can you imagine after all these years?” But, because I’m older and I have a life – I’ll live if I don’t get that chance.

Gilmore:  When people see your shows what do you hope they walk away feeling? 

Glenn: Oh, that’s a great question. Well… a little knowledge... a sense of history… if people learn something... and a good feeling of nostalgia.

Gilmore: Thank you for meeting with me, Glenn. You’re an amazing human.

Glenn:  Hey, my pleasure, Gilmore, this was fun.

Grand performances, great music, and personality plus make the COACHELLA VALLEY REPERTORY 2024 SUMMER CABARET SERIES among the very best ways to enjoy Downtown Cathedral City. CVRep has scheduled 17 memorable evenings of award-winning talent, vivacious personalities, music and song, levity, and stories that are just waiting to be shared. This year’s Summer Cabaret Series continues to run through July 25, and has been expanded to include two shows every week!

Showtime is at 7PM. Tickets are $50 and on sale now. They may be ordered online at www.cvrep.org, by calling (760) 296-2966, ext. 201, or at the CVRep box office located at 68510 East Palm Canyon Dr., Cathedral City. Special custom ticket packages are available. The box office is open Tuesdays-Saturdays from 10 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. and one hour prior to performances. In order to better serve audiences, patrons requesting accessibility assistance are encouraged to contact the box office at least 24 hours prior to their ticketed performance. Artists, show titles and dates are subject to change.

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