Kander & Ebb Tribute Last Night - including Joel Grey performing Wilkommen

[Paulyd]

Posted: 5/7/07 at 8:39am

Well it's certainly something i'd never thought i'd see in my lifetime. Joel Grey performing Wilkommen with John Kander on the piano, but that what we got.

Last night at the Royal Albert Hall in London was The Night of 1000 voices benefit. This year they decided on a Kander & Ebb tribute with selectings from Chicago, Cabaret, Spiderwoman and Steel Pier to name a few plus other selected musical numbers from Jesus Christ Superstar, Carousel, Titanic & Porgy & Bess.

There wasnt quite 1000 voices. My partner counted around 650 in the choir. Dont ask me why he bothered, but being a Maths Teacher, i suppose he just couldnt help himself.

On the whole the show was great, but could have done with a little bit of rehearsal.

STANDOUT PERFORMENCES

JOEL GREY
You cant beat Joel Grey. He performed this twice. Once on his own in the first act, and then at the end with John Kander at the Piano. Pure Class!!

ANTHONY CRIVELLO
Performed Marta & The Day After That from Kiss of the Spiderwoman.

CAST OF AVENUE Q
They performed two stand out numbers. The first being Coffee in a Cardboard cup from 70,Girls,70 & then from Steel Pier, which in my opinion was the best part of the evening, Julie Atherton as Lucy the Slut peformed Eveybody's Girl.

STEEL PIER SEGMENT
I've always loved the music from Steel Pier and loved it even more after this segment. Along with the cast of Avenue Q,Tim Flavin performed Everybody Dance and Tiffany Graves sang Willing to Ride.

CAROLINE O'CONNOR
Probably one of the performances i enjoyed the most. She ripped the hell out of 'How Lucky Can You Get'and i think the audience agreed with me.

All in all a good night, but you could tell the rehearsal period was extremly brief. This was apparent on the Chicago segment when All That Jazz was performed by Josephina Gabrielle,Tiffany Graves, Debbie Kurup,Anette Mclaughlin and Caroline O'Connor. This should have been the highlight of the night, but feel flat, due to the abysmal sound last night at Albert Hall.

Still it was good to see a great array of talent on one stage.


Updated On: 5/7/07 at 08:39 AM

[StageFan2]

Posted: 5/7/07 at 9:22am

Joel Grey performing Wilkommen and the wonderful John Kander playing the piano. I could shed a happy tear just thinking about it. Thanks for sharing Paulyd.

[Perfectly Marvelous]

Posted: 5/7/07 at 9:34am

Aw, Kander & Ebb, my favorite musical duo... I'm glad to hear you had such a lovely time.

And you're absolutely correct - you can't beat Joel Grey. The man is so amazing.

[Paulyd]

Posted: 5/7/07 at 10:08am

And for his age, he's looking pretty good.

I've always loved the msuic of Steel Pier, and it wa the best segment of the night. Was the book purely to blame for its demise on Broadway?
Updated On: 5/7/07 at 10:08 AM

[misschung]

Posted: 5/7/07 at 10:21am

woah! that sounds like a great night, thanks for sharing!

[Paulyd]

Posted: 5/7/07 at 4:38pm

It was good, but the sound in the Albert Hall that night was very poor. We had great seats and even we had problems hearing some of the performers.

[folkyboy]

Posted: 5/7/07 at 5:53pm

i just love SPIDERWOMAN. everytime i hear the instrumentation i get all giddy. this sounds like such an amazing show!

[misschung]

Posted: 5/7/07 at 6:07pm

wow, really? I'm suprised, but it happens, I guess.