Walking into the Strathmore can take your breath away. With its sweeping ceilings, incredible sound quality, and overall production design, the venue alone is wonderful. This makes it the perfect place for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, its partner for the past 10 years. To begin the Strathmore's anniversary season, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra has compiled BROADWAY STANDING OVATIONS!, a collection of favorites to remind everyone why we love musical theatre.
For those of you who prefer new, somewhat edgier musicals, this may or may not be your type of evening. The program of the show bounces between group medleys, solo performances of full songs, and orchestral renditions and overtures. Some of the medleys included WEST SIDE STORY, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, and MAN OF LA MANCHA. Timeless classics though they are, they are also performed rather regularly. However, they do always bring in an audience.
If you avoid instrumental performances out of some bias that they aren't as entertaining, don't. This orchestra was stellar. The CHICAGO medley was just as raw and gritty as its sung performances, and conductor JACK EVERLY keeps the audience enthralled with both stories and his own management of the players. They also do manage to craft a fulfilling but concise evening, making you want to come back.
For this series of performances, mainly at the Mayerhoff in Baltimore, the BSO has brought in Broadway peformers TED KEEGAN, BEN CRAWFORD, and RON REMKE, as well as leading lady and YouTube star CHRISTINA BIANCO. Each of them was able to showcase their ranges and talents, especially Bianco, who juggled many a female role.
If you are used to fully staged performances, this is a different setup. The actors mainly stand in close proximity to the orchestra, occasionally moving around the stage. Some performances felt a little too stiff, while others were over the top. While it didn't detract much, the balance of it was off. Pacing was also a little strange during "Falling Slowly", which could be a number of factors.
BEN CRAWFORD has a resonating, powerful voice that gives you chills. His "This is the Moment", the first sung performance, got standing ovations from various audience members, making the show's title apt, and him someone you assuredly want to see again. RON REMKE, while not often highlighted in solo performances, is wonderful, possessing a suave charm and rounding out the cast well.
TED KEEGAN, known for his numerous performances as the Phantom, handled his songs extremely well. He has a pure voice, and having seen him before, he continues to be good. However, his gestures felt somewhat over the top, detracting from the songs themselves. In this type of staging, balance is necessary, and "Music of the Night" became, sadly, a bit too cheesy.
YouTube sensation CHRISTINA BIANCO is adorable, and a stunning talent to watch. Her medley of impressions (yes, you get to see some!) was hilarious, unpredictable, and so very accurate. My one struggle with her performance is that, when she is singing in her own voice, it has a tendency to come out of her nose. While the pitch, control, and stage presense are all there, that is the one thing that takes away overall. Should you still see her? Absolutely.
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra has created a lovely evening of Broadway. Is it the most original one you could see? No, and it doesn't need to be. Instead, it is a blissful reminder of what makes musical theatre amazing, and for that, ovations are definitely earned.
BROADWAY STANDING OVATIONS! is a limited engagement. The show was performed once at the Music Center at Strathmore, and continues through Sunday, October 11th, at Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore. More information here.
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