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| Broadway Our Way 4: Divas Unleashed! |
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"Divas" Pitches High Camp
By Lawson Taitte / Excerpted from The Dallas Morning News 1/08/2006 ©2006 Uptown Players knows how to throw a party. This year's gala, Broadway Our Way: Divas Unleashed, is a particularly wild one. Generally in these shows, the men sing songs originally written for women, and vice versa. The patter, written and directed by Andi Allen, consistently amuses. Host Paul J. Williams hilariously turns up in drag as the leading ladies from Uptown's last season. The show also previews the upcoming season, most notably with a dynamite rendition of Amneris' big number from Aida, led by a sizzling Courtney Franklin. Cedric Neal crooned the beautiful "Fine, Fine Line" from Avenue Q exquisitely, and Donald Fowler mastered the formidable demands of The Light in the Piazza's "Fable ". The numbers push up against each other intelligently. A couple of songs from the off-Broadway smash Altar Boyz segue into "Heaven on Their Minds " from Jesus Christ Superstar. Amy Stevenson blared out "Into the Fire " from The Scarlet Pimpernel with finesse as well as oomph. Let's not forget the virtuoso dancers, either – like John de Los Santos, who partners with Linda Leonard in Fosse's "Mr. Bojangles. " A larger ensemble turned out a surprisingly rousing "All That Jazz, " – fronted by the amazing William Blake. This year, with the performances spread over two weekends, each features a guest star or two. On Saturday, they were Coy Covington and B.J. Cleveland. As funny as these two men are when they don dresses, they are even better when they let their guards down and sing a poignant number. |
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Steppin' Out
By Lawson Taitte / Excerpted from The Dallas Morning News 1/10/2006 ©2006 Simon Cowell might not have gone for William Blake's voice when the young Dallas singer made it to the L.A. round of tryouts of American Idol, but he wowed the crowd at the opening of Broadway Our Way: Divas Unleashed leading Chicago's "All That Jazz.". The breakthrough performance, though, comes from Courtney Franklin. She sizzles her way through "My Strongest Suit" from the Elton John-Tim Rice Aida. For the big finale, the entire cast strolls out to sing the signature number from Rent, "Seasons of Love." It puts the 2005 Chris Columbus movie to shame. And reminds us that the original New York director, Michael Greif, wasn't that great, either. |
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Great White "Way"
By Arnold Wayne Jones / Excerpted from The Dallas Voice 1/12/2006 ©2006 This troupe sets the bar almost too high, inviting local actors, musicians and designers to outdo themselves. The risks are plentiful, but so are the rewards. "Broadway Our Way: Divas Unleashed" is one such payoff. This revue of hit show-tunes is full of camp-induced belly laughs, wonderful music and fluid choreography. The best reason for seeing the show is to revel in the showcase of talent. The conceit is that men perform songs written for women and vice versa. Nowhere is this more in evidence than on "All I Ask of You" from "The Phantom of the Opera," sung by Stephanie Hall and director Andi Allen. Their singing is superb. William Blake leads a group in "All that Jazz" that would make Catherine Zeta-Jones pant with envy. And Courtney Franklin displays her gorgeously countrified pipes on both “Muddy Water” from "Big River" and a medley from "Aida." Paul J. Williams, who hosts the event, flexes his improv comedy skills, toying with the audience while making appearances as a slate of characters. |
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Sing Out, Louise
By Elaine Liner / Excerpted from The Dallas Observer 1/10/2006 ©2006 his year's edition is a ferociously fun celebration of the theater's previous season that invites cast members from some of those shows to sing and dance their little gypsy hearts out. Suave Donald Fowler is in fine voice on the difficult and haunting "Fable" from Light in the Piazza. Stephanie Hall, Amy Stephenson, Lisa-Gabrielle Greene and Patty Breckinridge do camp in two numbers from Altar Boyz. Those lead right into "Heaven on My Mind" from Jesus Christ Superstar. BOW's writer-director Andi Allen makes sure the flow from song to song makes sense in a winking, witty way. Young William Blake, eliminated way too early from last year's American Idol, shows off his muscular vocal cords and newly slim physique on "Sooner or Later" and "All That Jazz". Blake's a born showstopper, and he does it twice in Broadway Our Way. Coy Covington appears in the first half of the show in a tuxedo to sing an elegant "I Got Lost in His Arms" from Annie Get Your Gun. He returned later in full-glam female get-up and romped through a pee-in-the-britches funny rendition of "The Grass Is Always Greener" from And the World Goes Round with B.J. Cleveland. Stand-up comic Paul J. Williams serves as host of BOW and keeps things moving along with some wisecracks and inside jokes about Uptown shows past and future. Musical director Lee Harris handles keyboards expertly along with assistant conductor Jeff Crouse and percussionist Jaime Reyes. |