Jersey Boys Blog

New York Musical Theater Festival, BroadwayWorld.com, and AM New York Present:

By Special Correspondent Howard Tucker ([email protected]).

Background

After the sold-out success of its “Unauthorized Musicology of Ben Folds” in 2006, NYMF bowed to public demand to present “More Unauthorized Musicology of Ben Folds” on March 26, 2007. (The title is a takeoff of the title of the final album of the Ben Folds Five in 1999, “The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner.”)

My friend Jessica Calderon and I were treated to a wonderful evening of “Unauthorized Musicology” at the Zipper Theater on W. 37th Street.

The Music

Jessica has always been a fan of “alternative music” and knew each one of the 26 songs all interpreted by Broadway stars including, among others, our own Bobby Spencer (“Jersey Boys”)’ Kevyn Morrow (“Smokey Joe’s Cafe,” “Ragtime,” “A Chorus Line”); Will Chase (“Lennon,” High Fidelity”), Lisa Howard (“Spelling Bee”), Chip Zien (“Falsettos”); Michael Winther (“Mamma Mia”), Manoel Felciano (“Sweeney Todd”)’ Bob Stillman (“Grey Gardens”); Stephanie D’Abruzzo (“Avenue Q”); and Liz McCartney (“Taboo”).

Although I’m more a fan of mainstream music, I recognized a lot of the hits, all with unusual lyrics which sometimes touch upon nuances of melancholy, self-conflict, and even depression, but often through humorous sarcasm. Space constraints preclude my listing of each of them, so I’ll highlight a few which touched Jessica and me.

J. Robert Spencer: “Army”

“Army” was a hit from the last Ben Folds Five album, “The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner” and has marvelous saxophone and trumpet harmonies. Bobby Spencer gave the song an energetic performance with some audience sing-along, and it was wonderful to hear Bobby as a soloist.

I recall the Ben Folds Five performing “Army” on “The Tonight Show” several years ago and Bobby certainly gave ‘em a run for their money!

J. Robert Spencer: “Late”
Bobby slowed it down for this beautiful tribute to the late singer/songwriter Elliot Smith. We’ve all heard Bobby’s bass backup in “Jersey Boys,” so hearing his mellow, almost tenor-like tribute was a wonderful change of pace. The audience was so moved that one could hear the proverbial pin drop at the song’s conclusion.

Stephanie D’Abruzzo: “Alice Childress”
The character Alice Childress is actually based upon a character in a mental institution who threw mop water on Anna Goldman, who was married to Folds in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. The song was co-written by Goldman and in a mildly humorous yet poignant way addresses the sensitive subject of mental illness. Stephanie shows a completely different side to her wisecracking in “Avenue Q.”

Ashley Parker Angel: “Brick”
Immediately recognizable and clearly a fan favorite, “Brick” was wonderfully done by singer-turned-theatrical actor Ashley Parker Angel, who himself is well known from the TV series “Making the Band” on ABC and “There and Back” on MTV. Ashley’s own hit single is “Let U Go.”

Liz McCartney: “The Luckiest” and “Learn to Live With What You Are”
Liz closed the show with her powerful vocals on both of these touching and very recent “message” songs. We all remember “The Luckiest” from the TV series “Everwood” and Folds himself performing “Learn to Live with What You Are” dressed as a pirate on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien.” Liz’s everyday garb enabled us to focus a bit more on Folds’ beautiful lyrics.

The After-Party

The Zipper Theater advertised that the audience would meet the performers at the after-party. Well, this time, we REALLY MET the performers, with the after-party lasting as long as the show (both about 90 minutes).

We had a long chat with our always engaging J. Robert Spencer (“Jersey Boys”) who brought us up-to-date on his film “Farm Girl in New York,” where he is the Writer, Director, and Star. We reviewed the hilarious outtakes with him; please check them out at www.bobbyspencer.com. We learned that Bobby grew up in Texas (where both Jessica and I have family) and his lovely wife Jenny-Lynn in Oregon. New addition Geddy is the light of their lives.

I saw Lisa Howard twice in “Spelling Bee” as teacher Rona Lisa Peretti, a role she originated on Broadway. Explaining that I was a county spelling champion twice in the 1960’s (as chronicled by my boyhood friend Thomas Cassidy in his book From the Scenic Outlook, Green Bean Press, 2002), I asked how one is chosen to be an audience participant. Lisa deadpanned that my “spelling” was probably so good that I’d never miss a word and curfew would be violated! (In reality, the producers scout the crowd entering the lobby.)

In the small world department, Kevyn Morrow was in the original “A Chorus Line” along with my high school classmate Nancy Lane (“The Duck Factory” with Jim Carrey, “Remington Steele”). Jessica also enjoyed Kevyn’s war stories from “Smokey Joe’s Café”, which I unfortunately didn’t see.

Finally, I loved speaking with the wonderfully cordial and talented Will Chase, so wonderful as the lead in the much too short-lived “High Fidelity,” about his starring role in “Lennon.” I cautiously volunteered to Will that I bought a ticket to “Lennon” mistakenly expecting to see a Beatles songbook woven into a storyline, rather than a more limited John Lennon songbook (“Imagine,” “Woman.” “Starting Over,” “Whatever Gets You Through the Night”), and perhaps didn’t give the play a fair chance from the beginning. That led us into a frank discussion about audience expectations and people seeing “what they thought they would see.”

Indeed, Will and I continued our discussion via e-mail early the next day. Here is his exact quote, “It was a great evening and getting to talk to real people at these things is the best part. Not that I don’t enjoy getting to see colleagues, but getting to talk to people who are just there to enjoy is the best.”

The only negative of the evening is that by time I hit the buffet table, I found only a few leftovers, while Jessica was totally satiated with various delicacies; she particularly loved the wrapped scallops. I guess “hob-nobbing with the stars” has its occasional drawbacks!!

Jersey Boys Blog would like to say a special thank you to Howard Tucker for another incredible review!