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REVIEW by James Andrew of Style Music TV
Tonight, I went to see a show called "The Best of Jim
Caruso's Cast Party" at Town Hall.
I have not been to Jim's show at Birdlands before,
so I'm not sure what to
expect. But I have been to shows done by Scott
Siegel, and they're always
marvelous.
Upon entering town hall, I saw
a jazz trio setup on stage, and I was immediately
thinking, this is going to
be good: I love powerful Broadway songs, and also
love smooth jazzy
songs. Turns out this show has both, and then some !!!
At the end of
the show, the first feeling I have about it is:
this show lives up to its
name. It definitely is one of the best around.
It has powerful Broadway style
singing, it has smooth sweet jazzy vocals, it
also has humor, comedian
singing, dancing,... simply put, this show is full of
variety and
surprises.
Jim, with the help of Billy (who is on piano, and the musical
director), hosts
the show. They introduce the performers, and they also sing
a couple pieces.
Below are some highlights of the show:
Lisa has a
unique, sassy, jazzy voice.
Jenna also has a nice voice, and a delightful
performance with her band and
chorus setup.
Karen, singing a song by
Andrew Gerle, has the sweetest voice of the night in my
humble opinion.
Don't get me wrong, most performers on stage tonight are simply
amazing, so
to have the sweetest voice... (that means I'm searching online
looking to
buy her CD while writing this review... I already checked the CD
sales desk
at town hall, they didn't carry her CD...)
Next singer that gives me
a powerful impression is Natalie. She has a deep,
powerful vocal, yet she
makes it look so effortless.
Marilyn Maye, two words to describe her
performance: Standing Ovation !!!
And not to be outdone by the ladies,
Larry's song give us a very cozy, refined
feel.
On the other hand,
William is a present surprise !! His presentation of the song
"turn me on",
and jamming with Billy on stage definitely marks one of the
highlights in
the show.
With all these great singers, we have to have
duets.
Lucie and Hilary both did duet with Billy. The word "harmony"
comes to mind
when listening to duet pieces.
On the contrary,
Christopher's stalker song and Sally's Viagra song is funny,
and yet they
showed their level of power and control to be able to perform these
tough
pieces flawlessly.
If we talk about funny, I guess when "Miranda
Sings" sings her "think of me",
its one of a kind.
And just when you
think you have seen it all, here comes another surprise:
singing and
dancing.
Hinton's singing along with Mark Stuart's dancing is just perfect
combo.
and last but not least, we also have a few violin and saxophone
performances.
From Dave to Aaron, I guess the Dueling Fiddlers leave the
deepest mark with
Lady Gaga's song.
And not to be outdone, this show
finishes with its last performance by the one
and only Liza Minnelli.
To sum it up, I leave town hall with a smile on my face. I think I
will visit
birdlands to check out Jim's show. And I'm even more looking
forward to the
next show produced by Scott !! Scott's name is now a "quality
seal" in my
book. Highly Recommended if you're a Broadway music lover
!!
