Theater stars lift spirits with song, dance, laughs
The Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts was aglow with star power Monday night as 20 of theater’s biggest and brightest names joined local performers in “From Broadway with Love.”
Host Seth Rudetsky, of SiriusXM Radio’s Broadway channel, chatted briefly with each performer, but, in many ways, the songs gave Orlando a message.
“Maybe love can end the madness,” sang Jessie Mueller as she tore through Carole King’s “Beautiful.”
Carmen Cusack sang a number from Broadway’s “Bright Star”: “Something tells me it’ll be all right. Something tells me it’s gonna be OK.”
Like Cusack and Mueller, many chose songs from shows in which they have appeared.
Brian Stokes Mitchell, who addressed the audience as “friends,” wrapped his resonant baritone around the uplifting “Impossible Dream.”
Chita Rivera sashayed and shimmied to signature song “All that Jazz” from “Chicago.” Other signature moments: Priscilla Lopez and Andrea McArdle recreating moments from their star-making roles in “A Chorus Line” and “Annie,” respectively. “This comes from my heart to yours,” said McArdle before launching into “Tomorrow.”
Lillias White took “Don’t Rain on My Parade” to new defiant yet exuberant heights. UCF grad Justin Sargent led the crowd in a sing-along to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin‘.”
Others went for laughs: Josh Henry charmingly and athletically tap danced through “Slide Some Oil to Me,” while Kelli O’Hara expertly displayed her vocal range and her comic skills in the silly but technically demanding “They Don’t Let You in the Opera If You’re a Country Star.”
Proceeds from the show will benefit three Orlando nonprofits: the GLBT Community Center of Central Florida, Hope and Help Center and Zebra Coalition. The show will be recorded on CD and DVD, with profits from those sales also benefiting the local groups.
The event was created and organized by a consortium of locals and New Yorkers in the theater industry. Kenny Howard, an Orlando-based directorproducer, directed. Michael J. Moritz Jr. of New York was musical director.
Local performers included Orlando Gay Chorus members, who sang a zippy “What a Wonderful World,” and dance troupe Varie-Tease, which performed a whimsical routine to Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.”
Before the performers took the stage, the fundraising had begun with an online auction. A bidder paid $760 to sit on stage while Darren Criss, best known from TV’s “Glee,” directed the number “Sugar Daddy” from “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” toward him.
“From Broadway With Love” was never intended to be a memorial for the fallen, as organizers made clear from the start. Instead it was a gift for those of us who remain, picking up the pieces of our shattered city. Monday’s concert beautifully displayed of the power of the arts with a stirring reminder that to honor the dead, we must go on living.