It was billed as "Cabaret Nights," a program of selections
from Broadway and Hollywood musicals, with more than equal time given over
to Kander and Ebb's Cabaret. Still, the Cleveland Pops Orchestra's
concert Friday at Severance Hall might more precisely have been called "The
Susan and Sal Show." And no one would have quibbled.
The Pops' guests
on this occasion were Susan Egan and Sal Viviano, between them veterans of
12 Broadway shows, and delightful no matter what they sang at Severance.
They certainly couldn't have gone wrong in the repertoire department, not
with this lineup of gems by the likes of Irving Berlin, George and Ira Gershwin,
Cole Porter, Jule Styne, Stephen Sondheim, Jerry Herman, Harry Warren, Jeanine
Tesori and the aforementioned John Kander and Fred Ebb.
Both Egan and Viviano
possess the pipes to do tender or belt-'em honor to musical-theater fare.
And they aren't shy when it comes to personality. Viviano, in particular,
is a virtuoso schmoozer who can't seem to make enough contact with an audience.
During "Wilkommen" (from Cabaret),
he assumed an accent that was extremely "vague," as he accurately
deemed it, gave updated Indians and Cavs scores, and told stories that kept
the pianist and bass players vamping ad infinitum.
Viviano's tenor is quite
a golden instrument when he applies it musically. He sent "I Won't Send
Roses" (Mack and Mabel) and "People" (Funny
Girl) into touching orbit, while his gift for ironic narcissism was
evident in "All I Care About is Love" (Cabaret) and
his romantic suavity came to the fore in "Begin the Beguine" (Jubilee).
Egan
held the record for more performances as Sally Bowles in the recent Broadway
revival of Cabaret than any other actress, and one can
easily understand the allure. She used her clear soprano and sure dramatic
instincts to vibrant effect in "Maybe This Time" (incorporated
from the film version) and in the title tune, which she sang aptly with a
slight British accent. And Egan was adorable in "Look What Happened
to Mabel" (Mack and Mabel) and "Gimme Gimme" (music
by Tesori; lyrics by Dick Scanlan) from Thoroughly Modern
Millie, one
of the shows in which she starred on Broadway.
Onstage together, Egan and Viviano generated plenty of ardent and amusing
chemistry, whether in "Together" (Gypsy), "I Got
Rhythm" (Girl Crazy) or a deliriously competitive account
of "Anything You Can Do" (Annie Get Your Gun).
They didn't completely hog the spotlight, however. Conductor Carl Topilow
opened the night playing his red clarinet from the audience in "Hello,
Dolly!" as he came onstage to lead his ensemble in a program full of
stellar performances, including two Herman overtures. A medley from 42nd
Street found Topilow taking up his regular, black clarinet and wailing
with gleeful intensity, while Jason Seber ably kept the orchestra tapping
away.
Topilow, Egan, Viviano and the Pops couldn't say farewell, of course,
without an encore. The singers poured their still-fresh voices into Kander
and Ebb's "New
York, New York," yet another reason for them to return soon to "Cleveland,
Cleveland."
© 2006 The Plain Dealer. Used with permission.
