CONCERTGEBOUW DEBUT: Keast conducts broadway classics
“Energetic and throws himself completely into stirring up his orchestra.”
Review for Bravo Broadway at the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam (July 2022, Musicaljournaal)
TRANSLATED FROM DUTCH. SEE ORIGINAL HERE.
For more than thirty years, the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam has been celebrating the summer with music. The summer concert series in July and August has become one of the most visited festivals in our country. The Vriendenloterij Summer Concerts consists of a series of more than 70 concerts in all kinds of music genres, from classical concerts by new talents and established names to concerts with pop, film music and tributes. The Bravo Broadway concert was particularly interesting for musical lovers, which took place last Friday. In an almost sold-out Concertgebouw (and for the occasion can be viewed on life-size screens on Museumplein), two major Broadway stars (Alli Mauzey and Hugh Panaro) were accompanied by the Württembergische Philharmonie, conducted by the American conductor Garrett Keast.
Alli Mauzey made her Broadway debut as Brenda in Hairspray , but was best known for her portrayal of Glinda in Wicked. Hugh Panaro is best known for his role in The Phantom of the Opera . He debuted in this musical as Raoul in 1991 and played the part of Phantom no less than 4 times, in 1999, 2003-2005, 2010-2013 and 2013-2014.
During the concert, pieces from Gypsy, Kiss Me Kate, The Wizard of Oz, My Fair Lady, Girl Crazy, West Side Story, Little Shop of Horrors, Frozen, Hairspray, My Fair Lady, Cabaret, Chicago, Les Miserables, Mamma Mia ! and The Phantom of the Opera .
The orchestra can safely be called the third star of the performance. What a pleasure to hear this beautiful music performed, without canned samples, but with a complete symphony orchestra, with strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion/percussion, harp and grand piano. Maestro Garrett Keast is energetic and throws himself completely into stirring up his orchestra.
We have already admired Alli Mauzey before, when she played the role of Glinda next to Willemijn Verkaik in Wicked on Broadway with astonishing playful ease. Her vocal qualities are exceptional and she seems to have the flute register continuously available on demand. She wears both the heavier pieces and the lighter work such as from Hairspray or Mamma Mia , without compromising on intelligibility or text experience. Hugh Panaro's comfort zone is The Phantom, Les Misérables and Sondheim's work. A zone in which it is not very busy; he moves effortlessly in it and combines this with an enormous stage presence.
The concert is a succession of highlights, in which the (utopian) desire that every great musical should have a large – onstage – orchestra cannot be suppressed. There is also the realization that a performance like The Phantom or The Opera has not been seen in the Netherlands for far too long. In view of the reactions in the Concertgebouw, the public is more than ready for that.
Musicaljournaal: SEE ORIGINAL HERE.