What’s Love Got to Do with It?

Good question. Leslie Fornino gave a stab at an answer on Sunday afternoon. She was ably assisted by Richard Danley (piano), Saadi Zain (bass), and Mike Campenni (percussion).

This was pretty much a club/cabaret act in a concert hall setting. A cocktail or two would have been nice. Ms Fornino opened with the title song and afterwards assured us that she was not Tina Turner. She performed with a standard belting style, and sang well throughout. I take a bit of an issue with belters pushing their range higher and higher, but I’ve heard enough of it now to know that it is pretty much the standard musical theater technique. Still, it’s not my favorite.

There were sixteen songs performed (more, really, since one was a medley of shows/roles she had not been cast in), so we’ll hear about some, not all, of them. The songs ranged from Irving Berlin (Lost in His Arms – Annie Get Your Gun) to Sondheim (Take Me to the World – Evening Primrose) with stops along the way in the Heartbreak Hotel, Wherever He Ain’t (Mack and Mabel), Colored Lights (The Rink), I Hate Men (Kiss Me Kate), and You Could Drive a Person Crazy (dedicated to her husband, no less!).

A cute novelty number, I Like Them Bald followed People and Love on the Rocks (gotta love a good prop!). The “non-cast-in” medley included Worst Pies in London (Sweeney Todd),
A Boy Like That (West Side Story), Shall We Dance? (King and I), Just in Time (Bells Are Ringing), and Wonderful Guy (South Pacific).

So we heard about love, learned about love, learned how not to love, and learned that love has everything to do with it. A great lesson learned on an enjoyable Sunday afternoon (even with Sandy-monium* looming over our collective heads).

ConcertMeister
*Thanks, BabyBro