ON THE STAGE IN QUEENS

This past weekend was filled with performances at both Queens Theatre and Queensborough Performing Arts Center experiencing a most fabulous Melissa Manchester in concert, the not Blood Sweat & Tears, and the very funny Forbidden Broadway.

I first had the pleasure of interviewing Melissa Manchester on my internet radio show, Whirl With Merle on www.blogtalkradio.com. We talked about her career much of which was composing songs for both herself and other artists as well as co-compositions. It seems that she has also co-written an entire musical called, “I Sent A Letter To My Love”, which I suggested that Queens Theatre might want to feature in the near future. I got how personable she is and wondered how she would be in concert, having taken a 10-year break.

Let me say that she is just as personable on stage giving a perfect performance that flowed with both talk and songs. We heard, “Through The Eyes of Love” from the hit movie, Ice Castles and others that hit the charts such as: “Midnight Blue” (her first big hit); “Don’t Cry Out Loud”; and “You Should Hear How She Talks About You” mouthed in sync with a video of when she sang it in 1982.
Then there was another video of Barry Manilow singing “You’ve Got A Friend” where Barry seems as if he is being “skyped”, acknowledging Melissa as she performs the duet.

One more video. Her latest composition, “Rainbird” from the movie “Dirty Girl”, in which she co-wrote the song with star Mary Steenburgen. The movie’s trailer was shown while Melissa sang “Rainbird”.

After the show she came out to meet her fans, take photos and autograph her CD. Keep it up Melissa….you still got it!!!

I was planning on enjoying the “Blood, Sweat & Tears Concert”. Okay, I did realize that none of the performers were from the original group. “You’ve Made Me So Happy” would have gotten the title, “You’ve Made Me So Annoyed”. The lead singer Jason Paige is so too full of himself. His vocals were screechy and raspy and was much more concerned about that the show was being filmed making it a point, many times, to play to the camera. There were some seats on the side of the stage reserved for VIP, which looked like five or six young women “groupies”. I thought that he was going to do a lap dance for one of them. It’s not as if there weren’t any VIP of the male persuasion. They were seated behind the women. Hey, BS and T, if you want to create a movie concert for yourself, then don’t use an audience to pay for it!!!!

Then there was the concert itself, which could have also gotten the title of “Blood, Sweat & Jazz”. I have a particular annoyance when it comes to a jazz band. It tends to look like a showcase for each of the members. You know what I mean. They somehow make it a point to have each one do a “show off” solo.
The venue itself is fine. I love that there is enough room in front of your seat for people to walk by without your having to rise and that there are “no bad seats”.

I had seen Forbidden Broadway three times, each a different show…as it was being updated to include what was present on Broadway. This one was a whole new ballgame as one being “taken on the road”. Although I loved the talent, the show just wasn’t as hilarious. I guess when you have to choose a one time as to what you want to present…Okay, I’ll explain. After the introduction number by the cast of four, there was a takeoff on Chicago in which they poked fun of Fosse singing a parody of “Razzle Dazzle”, a song from the show. Having seen the show a few times, I found it hilarious. Next was “Andrea McCardle” at the age of 30, complaining about her career with a takeoff on “Tomorrow”.

How much you laugh is based on: if you saw the show and totally realize why what they are singing is funny; if you’ve never seen the show but know what it’s about and heard reviews and get it; you don’t know a damn thing about the show.
Take their spoof on Jersey Boys, for instance. They sang about the fact that there was too much info as well as singing, “Walk Like A Man; Sing Like A Girl”. Phantom of the Opera had a few with the Phantom complaining, “this song’s too high”.
Those not familiar enough with Sarah Brightman may not have gotten why she sang a takeoff of “Time To Say Goodbye”, when Phantom was the show that she was in and that the song was not from that show.

I absolutely love their spoof of Les Miserable. If you have seen the show, you would get how funny “circular moving of the platform” is and why the performer playing the young girl sings “On My Phone” since she does not appear in the show too often.

The Liza Minelli spoof was done quite well and the Fiddler On The Roof takeoff on “Tradition” was quite funny. Let’s also not forget, “Can You Feel My Pain Tonight” dealing with The Lion King’s heavy headed costumes.
On the down side…the microphone setup. Using one mike for four people didn’t work much. Too many times that you couldn’t hear the words at a distance due to one or more being “mikeless”. Check out what’s coming up at Queensborough Performance Arts Center!