Voices in ‘Beautiful Girls’ accomplished, fearless
You could go to New York City to hear voices as good as those in “Beautiful Girls.”
Or you can visit the Pikes Peak Center, where the Stephen Sondheim tribute — commissioned by the Colorado Festival of World Theatre — had its premiere Saturday night.
Donna McKechnie, who won a Tony award for “A Chorus Line,” Marin Mazzie, currently appearing in the Broadway production of “Spamalot,” and rising star Jenn Colella come together for a feast of show tunes and vocal one-upswomanship. All three are beautiful, supremely accomplished and utterly fearless.
McKechnie’s voice is still powerful enough that her microphone nearly came to grief during “Some People” from “Gypsy.” The statuesque Mazzie brought harrowing intensity to “Every Day a Little Death” from “A Little Night Music.”
Colella doesn’t have as large or lustrous a voice as Mazzie or McKechnie, but she’s the one who sings here as though she still has something to prove — whether it was her cute, girlish Red Riding Hood in “I Know Things Now” from “Into the Woods,” or her sublimely neurotic delivery of “Getting Married Today,” the patter song from “Company.”
A script, charting a woman’s life and Sondheim’s career, links the songs.
It’s nothing special — but it provides a role for four-time Tony award winner Zoe Caldwell, who functions as the evening’s emcee. Topping it off is a brief appearance by Patti LuPone.
The singers don’t upstage the music. The focus is on the Broadway musical dramatist, who’s in town receiving an award from the festival, and was in attendance Saturday.
“Beautiful Girls” contains music from nearly every Sondheim show, from the 1953 “Saturday Night,” to his latest show, “Bounce,” which is scheduled for a 2008 premiere.
Sondheim is a musical dramatist to the core, making it difficult to remove the songs from context without weakening their impact — a major reason his only top-40 hit is “Send in the Clowns.” He’s best appreciated in the context of an entire show, such as the Fine Arts Center Theatre Company’s spring production of “Into the Woods.” (The FAC will produce “Sunday in the Park with George” in January.)
Even out of context, the songs are jewels — object lessons in how to fit music and words together to make a believable theatrical whole.
The crisp 28-piece orchestra made up of regional musicians was conducted by Paul Gemignani, whose association with Sondheim’s music dates back to 1971.
IF YOU GO
The Colorado Festival of World Theatre presents “Beautiful Girls,” a celebration of Stephen Sondheim
When: 6:30 p.m. today
Where: Pikes Peak Center, 190 S. Cascade Ave.
Tickets: $28-$75; 227-0086 or www.cfwt.org
