Phil Hall and the Ladies were back at the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts, and what a treat they were. For the record, the Ladies are: Karen Arlington, Lynette Baiocco, Mary Lou Barber, Mandy Brown, Dolly Ellen Friedman, Lenore Fuerstman, Alyson Reim, Diana Silva, Laurie Sondermeyer, and Becca Yuré. Each had a solo moment; all took part in the opening, The Lusty Month of May (from Camelot); Love Is in the Air (nicely staged by Sharon Halley), and the finale, Make Our Garden Grow (from Candide); and there was a superb version of Triplets (those three wacky, singing & dancing babies).
Highlights of the 23(!) songs on the program included Stormy Weather, Singin’ in the Rain, and World on a String/It’s Only a Paper Moon. Along the way, we also heard The Lady Is a Tramp, Put on a Happy Face, It’s a Good Day, Feelin’ Good, and Splish Splash, among others. On the plus side, renditions of Over the Rainbow and Don’t Rain on My Parade were treated as songs in their own right, not as tribute/faithful reproduction performances. Also, the staging for Triplets and Singin’ in the Rain was delightful. On the minus side, there were a few too many “stand (or sit on a stool) center stage” numbers while using a cordless microphone. A little bit of stage movement would have been nice.
One place that stand and sing was quite effective was the simple, straightforward, The Rainbow Connection. “The lovers, the dreamers, and me” gets me every time. One more plus was that even though some of the voices weren’t as strong as some of the others, the styling of those songs played to the strengths of each individual soloist. For that, and for the indefatigable accompaniments, we have Phil Hall to thank—maybe that’s the biggest plus
of all.
of all.
ConcertMeister
Fun, fun fun!
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