Review by Ron Fassler . . .
Almost forty years ago, Hugh Panaro made his Broadway debut as a Marius replacement in the original company of Les Misérables, having already played it in the show’s first national tour. He followed that by replacing early in the long-running Phantom of the Opera as its second Raoul. Then he created a role on Broadway in The Red Shoes (1993), only to suffer the fate of it closing after five performances (that’s show biz). Back to replacing, Panaro took over as Gaylord Ravenal in the 1994 revival of Show Boat, followed by co-starring in Side Show . . . only to see it close after 91 performances (again, show biz). His last appearance on Broadway was in the disappointing vampire musical Lestat—31 performances—though that one left him with bragging rights that Elton John once wrote a song for him. All of this to point out the ups and downs in the life of an actor in musical theatre, something Panaro makes light of at 54 Below in his current 5-night engagement now until May 1st, deliciously delineating his Broadway history in story and song.
A boyish sixty-one-years-old, he still sprouts a formidable head of hair and a voice of genuine power. And having aged out of the ingenue Raoul in Phantom and moved onto the title role itself (over 2,000 times on Broadway), he now finds himself reprising the Masked One in Masquerade, the new immersive version of Phantom, situated in the husk of the now defunct Lee’s Art Store on West 57th Street. As demonstrated in this well-structured cabaret act, directed with panache by Richard Jay-Alexander, Panaro is wonderfully self-effacing and in love with performing, crafting an evening of pleasurable sincerity.
Opening the show with Bernstein and Sondheim’s “Something’s Coming,” roving through the audience and making direct eye contact with as many folks as possible, Panaro sets the tone for all that’s coming. Offering a medley of Jule Styne, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green’s “Distant Melody” and “Neverland,” written for the 1954 Peter Pan musical, he sweetly shared how the show meant the world to him. Seeing it at age fifteen in the 1980 revival with Sandy Duncan as Peter—only his second Broadway musical—hooked him for life on musicals. And seeing the original Sweeney Todd less than 24 hours after was another life-changer. He would adore playing Anthony, the young sailor, later on in a 2002 Kennedy Center production that co-starred Brian Stokes Mitchell and Christine Baranski as Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett. After singing “Ah Miss/Joanna,” Panaro chose to perform “Not While I’m Around,” not written for the sailor but for Tobias, and one that Panaro had his eye (and ears) on for forty-five years. Songs like these, all of which hold personal meaning for him, are what form the crux of Panaro’s set.
The aforementioned solo from Lestat, “Right Before My Eyes” was a pleasure to hear since no original cast album was recorded. And since Panaro played both Raoul and the Phantom, we were treated to “All I Ask of You” and “The Music of the Night.” For “All I Ask of You,” Marie Johnson was brought to the stage, the actress with whom he played opposite many a time during his years in Phantom. Johnson cut quite a figure on stage, a dazzling beauty with a voice to match. They clearly enjoyed not only singing together but mimicking a good deal of the original staging.
From Side Show we got “One Plus One;” from Les Misérables” Bring Him Home; and from the time Panaro toured with Barbra Streisand (yes, he really did), “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers.” Towards the end, he sang “It Only Takes a Moment” from Jerry Herman’s Hello, Dolly! and Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer’s “Moon River,” one of the few the whole evening not from a Broadway musical. Just before launching into Herman’s lovely ballad, Panaro took a moment to dedicate the song to the late Gavin Creel, who had sung it in the 2017 Broadway revival and for which he won a Tony as Cornelius Hackl. However, Panaro was stopped by musical director Joseph Thalken as he had started in the wrong key. Laughing, Panaro looked up and said, “Was that you, Gavin?”
My only caveat is that since 54 Below is so intimate, there were some songs where the power of Panaro’s voice threatened to overwhelm the room. With an ability to practically do the show with no microphone at all, perhaps it should be kept in mind that when performing in cozy spaces, sometimes less is more.
“Hugh Panaro: Man Without a Mask,” is playing this week Thursday April 30th and Saturday May 1st at 7pm at 54 Below, 254 W 54th Street, NYC. For tickets, please visit www.54Below.org.
Photos by Ron Fassler.
