NYC REVIEW: The Best of Broadway - a CCM Celebration
The crazy amount of talent in the room was nothing short of epic.
Scott Coulter is a gem. Continuing to produce these amazing cabarets celebrating the history of UC-CCM at 54 Below has to be a ton of work, but the appreciative audiences hopefully make it worth it.
This year’s concert was about as perfect as you can get. There was a nice mix of generations featuring graduates from a few different eras. Lee Roy Reams kicked things off as only he can, with an energetic opening number and then the retelling of how he booked the original cast of 42nd Street as Billy Lawlor. And then he sang a ballad, proving that he’s still “got it.” Coulter delighted us with “Tomorrow,” with that soaring tenor voice, and you could see the joy on the faces of the class of 2023 who were seated near the stage as he dedicated it to them.
Ciara Alyse Harris, currently in “White Girl in Danger,” sang “Hopelessly Devoted to You.” She gets better every time I see her. Mikayla Renfrow, a graduate of the class of 2021 and current company member of “Aladdin,” acted her way through a gorgeous song. She was followed by Martin Vidnovic, who is an early graduate of the program, sang a few numbers from the 80s musical “Baby.”
Brianna Barnes took the piano (replacing John Boswell, who is a masterful accompanist). Her voice was on point, and her arranging skills are magnificent. The mashup she’s created of “Manhattan” and “New York, New York” is nothing short of brilliant. (The above video is an older recording of it; she just released a newer version on TikTok that I couldn’t embed here - but you should totally seek that out.)
Barnes then grabbed her guitar to accompany Jessica Hendy, who sang the best song from her one-woman show, “Walking with Bubbles” (with music written by Barnes). Finally, Max Chernin, the understudy for Ben Platt in “Parade,” crushed a duet with Bailee Endenbrock (who made her Broadway debut in the same show). Chernin will be playing “Leo Frank” next Friday and Saturday; I wish I was still in town to see it.
The class of 2023 then took the stage, and each sang 16 bars of new material (all arranged by the incomparable Julie Spangler). There’s not a weak link in this class, and I am so glad I got to hear them all together one last time. Finally, Coulter and Hendy sang a duet from Marvin Hamlisch (“Nobody Does it Better”) to wrap up the evening.
And that wraps up my trip to New York City; what a way to end. I started with the showcase of the Class of 2023, and they proved that they will hold their own in the city with their performances tonight.
I cannot wait to see what each one of them does next.