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A Review By R. J. Donovan One artist sings with his voice. The other sings with his fingers. Together, the fingers of Hershey Felder and the voice of James Barbour have joined forces to present “Back From Broadway” at The Stuart Street Playhouse through December 15. An odd paring, perhaps, but the congenial duo give it their all while explaining through song and story what it takes to ekk out a career in show business. Felder will be familiar to Boston audiences because of his run in “George Gershwin Alone” at The Loeb this past summer. Barbour, who possesses a warm and wonderfully rich Robert Goulet-like voice, has appeared in such Broadway shows as “Jane Eyre,” “Beauty & The Beast,” “The Secret Garden” and “Carousel” among others. They talk about the journey they’ve taken to get here (which, despite their long list of credits, would be more compelling were they performers who are better known). They talk about the roller coaster ride of performing on stage. And they talk about taking risks, although this is a show that takes very few. As Felder has a lock on the Gershwin songbook, he presents everything from “I Got Rhythm,” a smattering of “Fascinating Rhythm” and a spoof of “The Man I Love” to a thunderous “Rhapsody In Blue” finale. His stories range from the gooey memory of seeing “Cats” to being a 2nd Grade busy body. Remembrances of Music Teachers From Hell are fun, in part because Barbour lends a comical hand. Felder also shares a moving story that brings Gershwin’s music to the Nazi death camps. And the brief reference to his mother in his introduction to “Rhapsody” near the end of the show adds an emotional drive to his performance. The understated Barbour shares childhood memories of being a shy dork who got interested in performing by tagging along to his sister’s dance and music classes. He relies on material from some of the shows he’s done, including “I Will Follow You” from “Milk & Honey,” “If I Loved You” from “Carousel” and “Soliloquy,” also from “Carousel.” He is particularly moving in the latter, in part because of his explanation as to how he defined the character. He also adds a backstage opening night triumph-to-tragedy story that brings an audible gasp from the audience. Barbour additionally gives a full performance in “Molasses T’Rum” from “1776” and is touching in the lesser known “What You Call A Dream” from Craig Carnelia’s “Diamonds.” On the whole, his stories are more successful in connecting and furnishing authenticiity. A nervous performance of “On The Street Where You Live” before 4000 classmates (complete with awkward movements), the frustration of 5 a.m. cattle call auditions and preparing an emotional audition number only to have the guy auditioning right before him steal his thunder by singing the exact same thing. As previously mentioned, most of the choices in this show are very safe, right up to finishing with “The Impossible Dream” and following that with an tenuous encore of audience sing alongs. (As well, focus is lost and things menader when Felder starts to share backstage stories that aren’t even his own.) By aimming to a broad market and presenting music that seemingly everyone knows, there’s little new to explore for either the artist or the audience. It would have been nice to hear a few more selections like “What You Call A Dream.” In addition to adding a welcome balance to the proceedings, it would also allow both performers a moment to shine without comparison to previous interpreters of their material. So much for all those risks taken. “Back From Broadway” is at The Stuart Street Playhouse, 200 Stuart Street in Boston. For information, call 1-800-447-7400 or check out www.backfrombroadway.com. Dinner-theater packages available. NOTE: Park in The Raddison Hotel Garage for $5 with validation at the box office. -- OnStageBoston 11/8/02 |
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