This Easter season is a time of miracles, so it seems an appropriate opportunity to reflect upon another miracle that has come to my attention.
For about 15 years now, Houston has been blessed with a talented little band of troubadours who have continued, year after year, to create the most delightful musical cabaret shows on various themes, and present them, several times each year, at their lovely and aptly named venue, The Music Box.
The wide variety of music selected might be pop, rock, or Broadway, (as is the current case), but always creatively original programs that are full of fun. Above all, I believe the success and longevity of their popularity is a result of the absolutely remarkable vocal skill of every one of these five multi-talented performers. In their current edition, which may very well be their best ever, the show opens with an absolutely stunning performance of “The Circle of Life,” from The Lion King.
Luke Wrobel delivers the opening African Zulu chant with such resonant power that it could have been plucked from the soundtrack of the original cast album. While Mr. Wrobel continued to rock the room, Rebekah Dahl, dressed in a knockout red dress, beautifully sang the song itself, with rhythmic backup chanting, and lively animal antics from her cast-mates, Brad Scarborough, Cay Taylor and Kristina Sullivan. Meanwhile, the band members had amusing little hats on their heads depicting various animals, which prompted Miss Dahl to cheerfully approach each “animal” and pat it on the head. As the thrilling number concluded, I recall thinking, “How can this not be the Grand Finale?” But there were many delights to come.
When it was mentioned in the next segment that the song, “Anything Goes,” had been closely identified with the popular duo of Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, I felt a brief surge of self-satisfaction recalling I had the privilege of reviewing the night the pair opened with that very number during their sold-out concert at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, right here in the Woodlands, Texas. But this Music Box edition of the song was a standout as well, with a sassy lead from Rebecca nicely matched by a powerhouse performance from Luke. It was all smoothly decorated by terrific moments on lead guitar from Marc McCain, and more from Long Le on bass guitar. Rounding out the terrific house band are technical director, Pat Southard, Arthur Gilligan on percussion, and Austin Biel on both keyboard and guitar.
Miss Taylor arrived on stage next looking a bit like a chic model for Victoria Secret Formal Wear (is there such a thing?). The eye-catching dress was like an elegant black negligee with an artsy, half-torn hem that helped reveal the attractive legs of the talented singer as she followed, skillfully “chasing the ghost” of Barbra Streisand with a fine rendition of the Funny Girl classic, “People.” She shifted smoothly between moments of lashing ferocity, birdlike sweetness and sultry sexuality. It was a gem Miss Streisand would surely admire.
More gems would follow as Brad brought his resonant power to “One Song Glory” from Rent, and then, in breathtakingly perfect Italian, a “Che Gelida Manina” from Puccini’s La Bohème, that would have stood proudly on any opera stage. It had a mystical tenderness that made it a prayerful event that brought tears to my eyes. But Miss Taylor then brought me quickly back down to earth with her seductive and ultra-sensual “Whatever Lola Wants,” from Damn Yankees. Oozing allure, and with coy winks at the audience, her smooth and sexy gestures prompted the guy seated next to me in the audience to whisper, “I could watch this every day!”
Luke and Brad, both fathers themselves, brought added poignant touches to imagining the futures of their young children during the touching reflections of “Dear Theodosia,” from Hamilton. Then Rebekah completely embraced the complex lyric of “Firework” from Moulin Rouge, bringing the song such intensity that before she was finished it seemed like her soaring spirit was about to rise up above the stool upon which she was sitting.
Before Intermission, the gifted players fulfilled their annual tradition of producing an original “7-Minute Musical,” with this year’s edition hilariously celebrating the Broadway musical, Wicked. With humorous bits of costumes, and uproarious brief appearances from familiar characters in the story, the audience quickly realized it was “…not in Kansas anymore.” All the while an illuminated time clock above the stage kept the players on schedule to complete the comical romp in exactly 7 minutes, and by George, they did! What a hoot!
While Act One had been more than enough fun to cover the price of a ticket, Act Two was full of surprises as well. The Xanadu segment played out under glittering disco light balls, while Miss Taylor did a bit of whirling choreography on roller skates during that title song. Mr. Wrobel returned to the stage with a bit of affectionate banter about his mom & dad before hitting a complete homerun with a moving and sensational performance of the My Boy Bill “Soliloquy” from Carousel.
It was a wonderful tour-de-force look at the many emotions of a first time father-to-be. Less serious, but equally wonderful was then seeing Taylor take on a riotous little girl persona, complete with hilarious facial, posture and body language antics to match, during the wonderfully amusing, “Woe is Me,” from the musical comedy, Spelling Bee. I hesitate to give away all the surprises in this jam packed second half of the show, but here are a few hints:
• A soaring “Winner Takes it All” from Mama Mia with great keyboarding by Austin Biel
• Smooth handclapping choreo during The Temptations salute of Ain’t Too Proud
• Cay’s wistful and visionary take on the title song from Light in the Piazza
• Rebeka’s “Somewhere That’s Green” duet with Brad from Little Shop of Horrors
• A mesmerizing “Music of the Night” from Phantom of the Opera (Luke & Kristina)
• Great harmonies and counterpoints for a sassy “Razzle Dazzle” from Chicago
• A very apropos closer from the cast with “The Curtain Falls” from Just in Time
That latter song ended with the wise reminder that, “Your tears and laughter will linger on after the curtain falls.” Give the Music Box a try and see if you don’t agree.
THE BEST OF BROADWAY continues through April 4 with performances Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. The Music Box Theater is located in Houston’s CityCentre district, 12777 Queensbury Lane, where parking is free with ticket validation at the box office. Tickets for each show are $57 for reserved seating and $42 for general admission. For tickets or information, call 713-522-7722 or visit www.TheMusicBoxTheater.com, where you can also find details of the next show, “Birthday in the Box,” beginning on April 11th.
The columns of David Dow Bentley III have appeared on Broadway websites, in newspapers from the East Coast to the Gulf Coast, and may be viewed online at the website: www.ThePeoplesCritic.com. E-mail may be directed to ThePeoplesCritic3@gmail.com