This was part of the "Divas at Donmar" series of concerts presented at London's Donmar Warehouse in the early 2000s. I'll have to see if any of the other "Divas" are available, because Stars and the Moon: Betty Buckley is pretty good. This is more a jazz cabaret concert to my ears than a musical theater cabaret concert--even though the songs come from Broadway in many cases. The arrangements by Ms. Buckley's music director Kenny Werner are significantly arranged and the piano accompaniments vary tremendously from the original. Many are incredibly interesting and clever. Of particular note was the arrangement of "Send in the Clowns", which is completely re-harmonized. Sometimes, these arrangements went a bit too far for my tastes, but then I am an old musical theater queen. There was one section (which began with Stephen Schwartz's "Meadowlark") where I wondered if all the piano parts would have the same driving rhythm.
Ms. Buckley is a very likeable performer who strides the chasms between Broadway, jazz and cabaret very well. She makes each song her own, with some trademark vocalisms and physicalities, like the best of jazz performers. There were some arrangements, though, where I wished Ms. Buckley would adventure at least a bit from the published melody. I found this particularly true of her encore, "Amazing Grace". If any song can take a bit of noodling, it is that one.
Still, this is an interesting evening of familiar and unfamiliar songs, well presented.
No comments:
Post a Comment