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Here's another review, and you don't even have to click on a link to read it:
It was every thing I knew it would be, which was wonderful, which I knew it would be because Previn's music is wonderful and Bruce knows how to do great justice to great material, by the simple expedient of hiring a great cast, selecting and arranging the songs for maximum showmanship, and then MC'ing the whole thing with his inimitable wit and panache.
Are there any questions?
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Posted: |
Aug 4, 2015 - 1:08 AM
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By: |
Morricone
(Member)
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Well, how was it?
Incredible!
Bruce usually delivers a wonderful mix of the familiar and the offbeat or obscure. But sometimes I think he does his best work when the show is most daunting. Once he decided to do a night with just juvenile singers. The Kids are alright was the title and we all expected the worst. All my friends refused to attend and I barely got up the energy to watch at the bar. But Bruce pulled me away and got me to a table and what I saw was amazing. He defied expectation by giving these younger talents a lot of adult songs, some of which created a sense of irony, others changed the meaning of the songs simply by having children sing them. By the time we got to a song that fulfilled our cliché expectations like "The Good Ship Lollypop" we laughed at how "we" see children as opposed to how they are. He rethought our expectations with each ditty and left us bowled over.
When I announced this show was the songs of Andre Previn the most common response was "What songs are there by Andre Previn? The answer is quite a wide and varied lot. Bruce dug into the work he did with the Arthur Freed unit of MGM, particularly IT'S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER. Indeed he found not the "song" from THE HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE but the song commissioned by Barbra Streisand of the main theme for her movie album. And, as Bruce points out, Andre Previn was the only composer represented twice on that album. It is sublime.
Letting this night of surprise musical treasures wash over me it occurred to me one problem these film music nights may have. When you have Broadway hit shows you know that some of the best singers out there are utilized for them because for those songs to resonate in those massive theaters warblers have to have real ability. You can hear this in cast albums. But on the sound stage you can get away with a level of mediocrity. This came home when I did not recognize how good the songs in VALLEY OF THE DOLLS were until I heard them here. Outside of the title song the movie presentations were middling at best. So many might think these songs are not so hot. Here they are presented as labors of love. Bruce's casts are topnotch, this night especially the women. Adrianne Visnic in particular has an incredible range and an innate ability to get deep into a song. It never is surprising that I hear renditions that are better than the originals at Kritzerland shows.
When Guy Haines failed to show because he was at some celebration for his "failing to show to gigs" for over ten years, Bruce took over with the Oscar nominated "Far Away Part of Town" from PEPE where he approached - pure poetry. You see that is the thing about his shows, he makes them personal because he LOVES this stuff and brings life to songs that in the movie versions just sat there. And before I get too serious let me also say many pieces like my fave GOODBYE CHARLIE or Visnic's take on a beatnik song from THE SUBTERRANEANS were just plain fun.
Before the night was over we explored everything from a lost score Previn wrote for the musical version of GOODBYE MR. CHIPS to his best theater piece THE GOOD COMPANIONS (originally starring Judi Dench and John Mills) a hit that never opened here because it was decided it didn't "translate" to America very well. These songs sparkled and are memorable. As usual we show up for some light entertainment and we end up taking a musical journey with a major artist. These shows are tributes of the highest order.
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Thanks to all for your replies. I wish I could have been there.
I wish you could too. Wish there were more in LA like you. Thanks.
His next show is his 5th anniversary show where he picks up half the tab of the cover charge September 6th.
Anyone who wants to come - you have about ten minutes to reserve - there are only six seats left 
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