William Lewis, Pianist/Singer
When I first saw this one listed, I thought to myself, “Have I heard this guy before?” and the answer is yes. I’ve heard him as an accompanist as well as in a previous iteration of this concert—well, this type of concert. Clocking in at 19 numbers (with most of them being a mash-up of two and sometimes three songs), not everything will be covered.
The concert opened with It All Comes Out of a Piano/Let Me Sing and I’m Happy (Lazarus/Berlin). It was sort of a medley of ‘welcome/cheery’ songs along with a pastiche of classical piano pieces and phrases as well as ‘popular’ tunes (Shine Little Glow-Worm, Mairzy Doats, My Momma Done Told Me, Be It Ever So Humble …). It was a fun way to start.
There was an Americana section that included Simple Gifts, The Lass from the Low Countree/Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Hair (all Traditional); You’ve Got to Be Taught/Children Will Listen/Teach Your Children Well (R&H/Sondheim/Crosby, Stills and Nash); and Aquarius/Virgo, from Twelve Quite Heavenly Songs (P.D.Q. Bach). I love me some P.D.Q. Bach!
An Irish grouping of songs led up to intermission. My favorites were Lady of Knock (Rosemary Scallon), a piano solo that reminded me a bit of Shenandoah, and The Travelling Doctor Shop (arr. by the Wolfe Tones) that included the dreaded audience sing-along—but this one was actually fun (and we only had to learn one brief phrase).
The second half started with a Broadway set that included First You Dream (Kander/Ebb, from Steel Pier), Hangin’ Out the Window (Roger Lax, from The Weekend), and Where Is the Tribe for Me? (Walter Marks, from Bajour). The song from Bajour was my favorite of the afternoon—a novelty song with wacky animal sounds and a Latin beat. It was quite the showpiece. In fact, I heard
Mr. Lewis perform this piece at a concert four years ago and I remember loving it then, too.
The International set began strongly, with a mash-up of Chevaux de Bois/Carousel/Too Long at the Fair (Debussy/Brel/Barnes). A piano solo of a Chinese popular song did not fare as well; it seemed a little out of place. What followed was the accompaniment to Hotel (a Poulenc art song) with Lazy Afternoon (Moross) and Feeling Good (Newley) layered on top. It worked better with Lazy Afternoon but not so much with Feeling Good.
A catch-all section rounded out the afternoon. At This Moment (Billy Vera) was a country & western tune with snippets of the Tennessee Waltz thrown in for good measure. The last song of the afternoon was Nothing Left to Say (Martin/Angerman) which was simple and effective. Well, almost the last song—One More Beautiful Song (Ed Kleban) was a ‘feel-good’ song from the musical A Class Act, performed as an encore.
As noted at the beginning, Mr. Lewis is indeed more of a pianist than a singer. But his delivery and his knowledge of the material made this an enjoyable concert. After seeing him twice now, I’m not sure I’d jump at a third chance. But I just might change my mind about that in the future.
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