Matt Palm:
A heartfelt tribute to Marvin Hamlisch.
If you don’t know the name Marvin Hamlisch, you certainly know his music. Hamlisch, the prolific composer who died in 2012, scored movies such as “Sophie’s Choice,” wrote Carly Simon’s “Nobody Does It Better” and Barbra Streisand’s “The Way We Were,” and composed the songs for Broadway hit “A Chorus Line.”
Saturday’s “A Tribute to Marvin Hamlisch: One Singular Sensation” provided a smile-inducing retrospective of his work that was as much a warmhearted reminiscing session as concert.
The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra played under the direction of Larry Blank, a longtime Hamlisch friend and collaborator who devised the program and arranged much of the music with depth and flair.
Vocalists Jodi Benson and Doug LaBrecque, both of whom worked with Hamlisch, were joined by Scarlett Strallen, who starred in the last London revival of “A Chorus Line.” University of Central Florida senior Kalin Tenedini also soloed, joining Benson and Strallen on “At the Ballet,” and held her own with the pros.
UCF was also represented by its Chamber Singers choir, which provided strong backup vocals on several numbers, including “Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows,” a bubblegum pop hit in which the singers good-naturedly went along with the bouncy spirit.
The stars’ theater experience meant the songs were acted as well as sung.
Benson, known as the voice of Ariel in Disney’s “The Little Mermaid,” delivered a heartfelt “Through the Eyes of Love” from “Ice Castles.” LaBrecque, who played both Raoul and the title character in “The Phantom of the Opera,” displayed a rich and powerful tenor on “Ordinary Miracles.” Together, the two clowned around endearingly on “They’re Playing Our Song” from Hamlisch’s Broadway musical of the same name.
For her part, Strallen performed two of the most memorable numbers. Her “The Music and the Mirror” from “A Chorus Line” featured a snappy dance break and dramatic shadow effects on the walls of the Bob Carr Theater. A quieter song called “Dreamers” showed off the tender qualities of her soprano.
Blank called “Dreamers” his favorite song of Hamlisch’s, and the tidbits about Hamlisch — who won Emmy, Oscar, Tony and Grammy awards, as well as the Pulitzer Prize — were as entertaining as the music.
Benson poured heart and soul into “Disneyland” from the musical “Smile” by Hamlisch and lyricist Howard Ashman. Then she recalled how after the 1986 show closed suddenly on Broadway, the two men arranged for female cast members to audition for “The Little Mermaid” — Ashman’s new project.
“It made my career,” said Benson. “It’s truly a blessing for me to have been part of the Disney family for almost 35 years.”
How lucky Hamlisch is to have friends to carry on his legacy — and how lucky we are that his music lives on.