Featuring Lyricist Jill Abramovitz
First off, all of the performers were great: Jill Abramovitz, Joy Son (piano), Arielle Jacobs, Jessica Vosk, F. Michael Haynie, Michael Winther, Barbara Anselmi (piano), Alex Gemignani, Lisa Howard, Kevin Pariseau, Dana Steingold, Kate Wetherhead, Aron Accurso (piano), Mairi Dorman-Phaneuf (cello), and Andrew Potenz (cajon).
As I’ve mentioned in the past, a Songbook that focuses on lyrics is somewhat difficult to comment on—the lyrics sometimes get overshadowed by the music. Here, they were on equal footing for the most part. Ms. Abramovitz’ collaborators included Ms. Son, Brad Alexander, Mr. Accurso, and Ms. Anselmi.
Ms. Abramovitz kicked things off wither own rendition of Happy, a somewhat manic treatment of a wedding called off because the groom-to-be is gay. It was fun, and she gave off a little bit of a Carol Burnett vibe, to me.
Three songs from Bread and Roses followed. Put Me to Work had nice driving rhythms and a good approach to storytelling. Listen Please was powerful, if a bit stereotypical. And Building 646 had similar driving rhythms heard in Put Me to Work. I must say that I am not familiar with the movie Bread and Roses, but these songs seemed interesting.
A stand-alone song, Turning the Corner, was next, that had an inherent
sadness, yet with a nice feeling. Mr. Winther did a great job of getting this brand new song across. Brand new as in only completed on the day of the performance! Ms. Abramovitz scored big with What They Never Tell You from It Shoulda Been You. It must be a thrill to sing your own song from a Broadway show—
especially one that was Tyne Daly’s in the show.
Four songs from The Dogs of Pripyat followed, based on a true story of the lives of dogs surviving the Chernobyl atrocity. Join the Pack was a real treat—I even managed to jot down some lyrics: “Feel the lurking of the wolf within.” I especially liked the madrigal section that then morphed into an up tempo, power ballad feel. An ensemble of five singers provided excellent backup and collaboration with
Mr. Gemignani. The Little Guy had the high energy of yappers, while Almost Autumn featured a beagle, a mutt, and a human, and, after a lovely quiet opening, had interweaving stories and lines that worked really well, creating some beautiful harmonies. I Was Better Off Without You closed out the Dogs set, and was the tale of a cat and a dog on a quest for a catfish. I’m not making this up, you know.
Another stand-alone song, Gene Rosen, was inspired by and written for
Gene Rosen, who was a true hero in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shootings.
Mr. Winther gave a very moving performance, and it turns out that Mr. Rosen was at the concert. It’s not every day one gets to hear about a true hero in song, while the hero is there in the room. The repeating sentiment throughout the song was “’Cause your heart’s too big for your house.”
Written as a micro-musical, 11:07 was a nifty take on the “dreams really can come true” theme when the guy of a couple, singing with his wife, has his dream come true—to sing a song with Ann Harada, of Avenue Q fame. Ta-dah! Ms. Harada made an appearance, and much humor ensued.
The final song of the evening was Kind of Crazy, and if I got my notes written correctly it will be the final song of the final episode of this season of Submissions Only (which I had to look up online—yeah, I’m that much out of touch). The lyric that stuck with me was, “Your kind of crazy goes just perfectly with mine.” Ms. Vosk did a fine job, and was joined by some of the others from the evening’s performances, truly turning it into a full-blown finale. The variety of Ms. Abramovitz’ lyrics spread out between four different composers made for a compelling evening of new theater (and stand-alone) songs. There are two more Songbooks in this year’s series. I plan on being there!
ConcertMeister
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