Shaw Festival
Through October 5
FOOTLIGHTS Spiegeltent/Shaw Festival
In musical performance, there is a special value attached to the performer who is front and center, the solo performer, the tap dancer, the baritone declaiming Wagner or Chorus beginning “Henry V.”
That’s what happens in yet another of the musical happenings in the Shaw Festival’s Spiegeltent, this time “Footlights,” a look at some of Broadway’s greatest music, with the team of ten singers performing them as solo numbers, numbers they chose.
Some of the Broadway connections seem lost, with “Carousel’s” “You’ll Never Walk Alone” more associated with Liverpool Football Club than with the musical.
Or, “Fly Me To The Moon” being played over the closing scene in “Space Cowboys.”
Astronaut John Glenn liked the movie.
That’s Jeremiah Sparks with the upbeat anthem and Alana Bridgewater flying to the moon.
The Shaw is doing a lot of musical shows in the Spiegeltent, each a little different.
Here, it’s just the performers, individually moving around the aisles and central stage singing alone.
Many of these classics could have used more voices, as they were intended, when written.
The songs range across the board, from familiar to: What song is this?
All are strong, although there are quirks.
“Misty” may be best known for its underlying music and no words, while “Don’t Rain On My Parade” is Barbra Streisand’s theme from “Funny Girl,” a great shouter.
It’s all here, Tat Austrie and Elodie Gillett.
As director Tim Carroll points out in his program notes, some of these songs are from great shows or so-so shows or even bad shows, but these numbers have grabbed their places in musical history.
Some also have acquired hidden meanings in our time, Gillett’s “Something is Coming” or Shane Carty’s “The Impossible Dream” or JJ Gerber’s “Soon It’s Gonna Rain.”
And, you can only go to so many depressing Broadway shows before the desire looms for some love and romance in music.
Here, those include Ruthie Knut with “Mister Snow,” Graeme Kitigawa with “A New Love is Old” and Taurian Teelucksingh with “She Loves Me.”
Once, Broadway was the source of American popular culture and song and those days are gone.
But, this music shows what has been passed down to us all.
And, “Footlights” offers a string of strong performances to showcase the music, particularly Gillett, Carty, Gerber and Austrie.
See it.
A.W.
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