Music Review By Ron Fassler . . .
It’s hard to believe that Kelli O’Hara, an ingenue’s ingenue if there ever was one, first made her Broadway debut close to twenty-five years ago. Since then, those fortunate enough to have seen her in a dozen Broadway appearances have watched her mature as a singer and actress (her work in last season’s Days of Wine and Roses was simply astonishing). Capable of reaching surprising dramatic depths, the opportunities that will surely come her way in the wide range of age-appropriate roles that now await her is exciting to ponder. Bringing an accomplished ninety-minute show to the 92nd Street Y on the Upper East Side last week, backed by two extraordinary musicians—Dan Lipton (piano) and Justin Goldner (guitar)— it was a set that left little doubt there are even greater things in O’Hara’s future than even what was so beautifully on display Thursday night.
Opening with Stephen Sondheim’s “What More Do I Need?” from Saturday Night, the first show to which he wrote music and lyrics, offered up her voice as clear as a bell in thrall to New York City. Though born in Tulsa and growing up in Elk City, Oklahoma, she considers herself a New Yorker even though she lives in Connecticut. After all, when you’ve done as many Broadway shows as she has you can certainly claim New York City for your home. Her second number was also a Sondheim, “Take Me to the World,” from the television musical Evening Primrose. Backed by exquisite work from Dan Lipton on the piano, her voice soared in the plaintive song about yearning for a world beyond one’s reach. Then the romantic in O’Hara took over and we were treated to a blend of South Pacific’s “A Cockeyed Optimist” and “Tomorrow” from Annie. For her portrayal of Nellie Forbush in the 2008 Lincoln Center production, O’Hara received her elusive Tony on her sixth nomination (she has since received two more), putting her in the rarified company of eight-time (or more) nominees like Chita Rivera, Audra McDonald and Patti LuPone.
She sang my personal favorite Broadway love song, “If I Loved You” and did a wonderful version of “She Loves Me” changing the pronoun. There was more Sondheim with “In Buddy’s Eyes,” which ponders the question of when we will someday see her play Sally Durant (she was an understudy for Young Sally in the 2001 revival of Follies). But it was with her rendition of Adam Guettel’s “Fable” from Light in the Piazza that was the evening’s highlight. The song, an epiphany for the character of middle-aged Margaret Johnson that closes the musical, was an absolute triumph. Having played Clara, the character’s daughter in the original production, only added to the sense that we are experiencing this singer and actress in a whole new light. She also sang another Piazza composition, “Love to Me,” sung by Fabrizo. Is there anything O’Hara can’t do?
Dedicating the evening to women in her life that have made a difference allowed for delving into the personal and there were moments where it enhanced what O’Hara was singing ten-fold. Again, a song like “Hello, Young Lovers,” which I saw her do when she starred in The King and I in 2015, was all the more rich due to the meaningful and productive life she’s lived over the past nine years. She also sang a heartbreaking version of the mother’s song from Dear Evan Hansen, “So Big/So Small,” and excelled with the gorgeous ballad “To Build a Home” from The Bridges of Madison County (Tony Award nomination #5).
She closed the evening with the simple yet profound “Make Someone Happy,” a great Jule Styne-Betty Comden-Adolph Green song from 1960’s Do Re Mi. It contains a favorite lyric, the juicy “Where’s the real stuff in life to cling to?” Answering that question with a show filled with real stuff—Kelli O’Hara is as cling-worthy as Saran Wrap.
An Evening with Kelli O’Hara was performed at 92NY Center for Culture & Arts, 1395 Lexington Avenue, NYC. For information on future programming, please visit: https://www.92ny.org/events.
Photos by Richard Termine.
