Broadway's Leading Men Concert II

[Dibbledl01]

Posted: 2/2/07 at 3:50pm

anyone going??

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 2/3/07 at 11:26am

Hi, for those of you are going, thanks for supporting Broadway Cares. Try to get there early; Birdland opens for dinner around 5. And we've gotta start at 7 (or shortly thereafter) because one of our guys has a half-hour call to make at 'Rent.' Happily, we've been sold out for weeks. At one point, we entertained the idea of selling any remaining bar seats at the door, but forget it. We're gonna be plenty packed as it is. And thanks to all the great guys and gals working on this benefit.
Playbill.com: 'The Leading Men II' concert update

[Cape Twirl of Doom]

Posted: 2/3/07 at 2:26pm

Will this be recorded & sold on DVD like the first Leading Men concert?

Updated On: 2/5/07 at 02:26 PM

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 2/3/07 at 2:43pm

Last ditch effort: if anyone has an extra ticket to this, please PM me!

[Cape Twirl of Doom]

Posted: 2/5/07 at 10:19pm

Just got back from this. What a fabulous concert! My friend & I both had a wonderful time. Big thanks to Wayman Wong, Jim Caruso and everyone else involved with the show!

[Corine2]

Posted: 2/6/07 at 12:39am

It was amazing!


Leading Men 11 blog Updated On: 2/6/07 at 12:39 AM

[Cape Twirl of Doom]

Posted: 2/6/07 at 1:04am

It was amazing!

Leading Men 11 blog

Oh, I can't wait to see your photos! I think I may have seen you standing by the bar. (If you saw me, I was the one with the mohawk.)

[Craig]

Posted: 2/6/07 at 1:31am

Corine.. I hope by the time you read this you will have already corrected the name of the very nice guy who invited you to the concert. Names are an important thing to get right - especially those that have gifted you something. It's Wayman Wong.

Also, I adore David and Robbie.. but you do know that David has been in the Cabaret scene (and quite successfully I might add) for awhile now..

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 2/6/07 at 2:42pm

Thanks to all of you who came to support Broadway Cares last night (Feb. 5) at Birdland. JOHN TARTAGLIA hosted; ALAN MURAOKA directed, and SETH RUDETSKY musical-directed.

Just for the record, here was the set list for the show:

TELLY LEUNG: 'It's the Applause' from 'How I Paid for College' by David Delaney and Bill Augustin

TOM ANDERSEN: 'Playing Right Field' by Willy Welch

DAVID GURLAND: 'Waiting for Life' by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty

ADAM JACOBS: 'Maria' from 'West Side Story' by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim

BEN STROTHMANN: 'Milwaukee' from 'Big City Rhythm' by Barry Kleinbort

TIM DI PASQUA: 'You' by Tim Di Pasqua

DANIEL REICHARD: 'Torch Song' from 'When Pigs Fly' by Mark Waldrop and Dick Gallagher

NORM LEWIS: 'I'd Rather Be Sailing' from 'A New Brain' by William Finn

PERRY OJEDA: 'Lucky to Be Me' from 'On the Town' by Betty Comden, Adolph Green and Leonard Bernstein

JIM CARUSO: 'Tone Deaf' by John Forster

HUGH PANARO: 'Right Before My Eyes' from 'Lestat' by Elton John and Bernie Taupin

SETH RUDETSKY: Deconstructing 'The Sound of Music'

JASON MICHAEL SNOW: 'Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat' from 'Guys & Dolls' by Frank Loesser

MATT CAVENAUGH: 'I Take It Back' from 'Urban Cowboy' by Jason Robert Brown

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 2/6/07 at 5:13pm

It was a great show!

Early on, it was established that more people in the audience watched Broadway: the American Musical Sunday night then the Superbowl (I actually watched the Superbow, YTWTIW during halftime and Broadway: the American Musical after, go me, I watched everything!), and there were some funny Grease comments and yeah.

Highlights for me included Daniel's hysterical, passionate performance of "Torch Song" (is the song actually written about Dick Cheney or can the person be altered?), Adam's gorgeous "Maria," Jim Caruso's funny but true "Tone Deaf," Hugh's wonderful performance of "Right Before My Eyes"--very moving as it was dedicated to a friend who had just died, Seth's hysterical deconstruction of Sound of Music, , Jason's beautiful rendition of "Sit Down, You're Rocking The Boat" (This boy needs to be on Broadway now!), and the wonderful John Tartaglia hosting.

Really, I enjoyed all of the performances. Thank you for a wonderful night, Wayman!

[bwaybud]

Posted: 2/6/07 at 7:31pm

Hey everyone,
Loved the show, it was a great night.

As always Seth Rudetsky was spot on in his hilarious critical analysis of the Sound of Music recording with Mary Martin, was a really hilarious segment.

Other favorites of the night were Adam Jacobs, Norm Lewis, David Gurland, Hugh Panaro, Jason Michael Snow, and Matt Cavenaugh.

Adam Jacobs gave a very tender, spot on performance of Maria, and it was really wonderful to see him perform outside of the Les Mis element.

Norm gave a georgous performance of I'd Rather Be Sailing from A New Brain, he never lets you down, amazing performer, and an equally amazing person. His last note in falcetto was nothing short of perfection.

David Gurland gave a really nice performance of "Waiting for Life to Begin", from Once on This Island, good stuff.

Hugh Panaro gave an emotional performance of "Right Before My Eyes", from Lestat, and had me nearly in tears with his dedication to a friend who had died earlier that day, very touching and extremely genuine.

Jason Michael Snow's performance of "Sit Down Your Rockin A Boat" was extremely entertaining, and impresive for this fresh talent. Looking forward to seeing him perform in the future.

Matt Cavenaugh's performance was great as always singing "I Take It Back" from Urban Cowboy (A song that was cut from the broadway production). I admire his voice, and ability to switch styles of singing.

Great night, and im looking forward to future concerts!
Thanks Wayman!
J

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 2/7/07 at 12:28pm

Thanks, wickedrentq and bwaybud for sharing your thoughts.

To answer the question about Daniel Reichard's number, it's called 'Torch Song,' and it's from a 1996 Off-Broadway revue, 'When Pigs Fly,' by Mark Waldrop and Dick Gallagher. In the original production, there were three versions of 'Torch Song' - each of which saluted (er, mocked) a different guy: Newt Gingrich, Strom Thurmond and Rush Limbaugh. More recently, Waldrop rewrote the lyrics to satirize Dick Cheney, and I'm assuming the more current productions of 'Pigs' use that.

I also want to acknowledge the friend that Hugh Panaro paid tribute to: J.C. Sheets. When Hugh made his Broadway debut in 'Les Miserables,' Sheets was the Jean Valjean. He said, 'We came up through the ranks together. J.C. was always the first person in line to help out Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.' So he asked to dedicate his song, 'Right Before My Eyes' from 'Lestat,' to the memory of his friend because J.C. 'was, and is, and will always be one of Broadway's finest leading men.' In Panaro's gorgeous song, the lyrics suddenly had an added poignance: 'How luminous he looks to me, so radiant and glorious. ... What princes of the dark we'd be, two blazing beacons in the dark. ... No force on Earth will ever tear him from my heart.' It was a classy and touching tribute.

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 2/7/07 at 3:26pm

Hi Wayman!

As they say "Good Form ...or in your case Good Show". I tried to make it but got stuck in Jersey. Everyone looks great and I know they sounded even better.

Here's one of my favorite photos of your "leading men".

please re-send me your e-mail. I lost it.

Thanks!
Pati B.
[e-mail]

Updated On: 2/7/07 at 03:26 PM

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 2/7/07 at 3:28pm

double post

Updated On: 2/7/07 at 03:28 PM

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 2/8/07 at 3:45pm

Pati, sorry you couldn't make it.

As for Hugh and Norm, they are such class acts, and so supportive of other guys. Earlier in this thread, I mentioned how Hugh dedicated his song to J.C. Sheets. ... And when I asked Norm to sign my 'Leading Men' poster, he pointed to Jason Michael Snow's photo and volunteered, 'He's gonna be a star!'

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 2/13/07 at 1:25pm

Thanks to Jena Tesse Fox for her warm and wonderful review of our concert. She really captured the spirit and sense of fun and camaraderie we were going for. I'm also happy to announce that we raised over $7,000 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS - twice the amount we raised with the 1st 'Leading Men' concert.

BroadwayWorld.com review: 'The Leading Men II: Bring on the Men!!' Updated On: 2/13/07 at 01:25 PM