Paulo Szot @54Below — Page 2

I absolutely agree with Fridwald from Wallstreet: "PAOLO SZOT, it's hard to believe he doesn't have a "solo" album, he's easily one of the great living baritones, if not the greatest!"

Meanwhile we are submitted to so many ordinary and voiceless broadway actors cd releases.... someone can explain it to me?

Paulo's voice identity is comparable to Vaughan, Fitzgerald, Goulet, SDJr and so many
other eternal voices. What are the big recording companies waiting for?

Yesterday's show has proved that he has stablished himself as a great artist and
is bringing back to our ears the sound of the golden age voices again.The real voices.
Thank you God!

I can't help thinking had he come along during the golden age of MGM musicals when they made stars of swimmers and opera singers that they would have grabbed onto him.

"I AM I, DON QUIXOTE, THE LORD OF--"

I forget what happened for the next 15 minutes.

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Woofies.

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Times Square Chronicles


Reviewed by Joe Regan Jr

Aug. 8, 2013



Like everyone else in New York, I was first exposed to Brazilian baritone Paolo Szot in the Lincoln Center revival of South Pacific which I saw at the matinee preview just before that Tony Award winning revival officially opened. I can still remember his heart-breaking rendition of “This Nearly Was Mine” and Szot went on to win the Tony for that performance and make his Metropolitan Opera debut. Since that time he has continued to play in opera houses all over the world and will return to the Met this coming season in Don Giovanni and The Nose.

For Szot’s cabaret debut this week at 54 Below, he has been skillfully directed by Joe Langworth (who was Bartlett Sher’s assistant on South Pacific) and the music direction and some arrangements are by young Matthew Aucoin who just graduated from Harvard where he played in a jazz band off campus and met Szot when they did a production of The Nose at Rome Opera a few months ago. Aucoin’s musical arrangements are creative and brilliant and his trio is first rate: David Finck on bass and Davied Ratajczak on drums and percussion. It’s a treat to watch Aucoin’s finger work and he has a great future in the classical and jazz world.

After a brilliant introduction of Aucoin playing Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, Szot enters from the audience singing “Summertime” and when he reaches the stage he goes right into “Too Darn Hot” with lots of body language and special phrasing on the sexy lyrics! The audience goes wild. He knows how to use a cabaret mic and his diction is perfection!

He comments that August is Brazilian month and that samba is the dance of Brazil. He explains that lyrics to Brazilian popular songs talk about great love but also the hurt involved. He then sings in Portuguese his samba medley “One Note Samba,” “Favela,” “Tristeza” from Black Orpheus, and “Brazil” dancing all over the stage. He tells us how much he loves Cole Porter and does one of the best “Were Thine That Special Face” I have ever heard.

Szot calms down to salute Nat King Cole and sweetly sings eden ahbez‘s one hit wonder “Nature Boy” as Aucoin skillfully plays behind him. After the first chorus Finck takes his bow and does a gorgeous solo that the audience cheered. Szot returned to his vocal and his face was a study of beauty.

Szot produces a book that he states he bought at the Colony Music Store before it closed: “Broadway Songs for Non-English Speaking Singers.” Handing the book to Aucoin, he rips into sensational renditions in character of “If I Were A Rich Man,” “Money Makes the World Go Round” from Cabaret, a brilliant “Puzzlement” from The King and I, and a hysterically funny “A Boy Like That/America,” and then the opening song from “The Lion King,” and finally a stunning “I Am I, Don Quixote.” If any one is casting a revival of any of these, especially Man of La Mancha, Szot demonstrates that he is the ideal star!

Naturally there is a Jobim medley and he sings “Sad” in English, followed by perfectly understandable Portuguese versions of “Wave” and “Desafinado.” Szot’s other Sondheim is “Too Many Mornings” which is a duet, but he sang it tenderly and movingly and again his acting was excellent.

He told the back story to the internationally famous song written by a Mexican songwriter, a woman who confessed she had never had a love kiss before writing “Besame Mucho.” Szot’s version was sexy and romantic. He saluted Sinatra by swinging “Fly Me To the Moon” and had terrific solos from Aucoin, Finck, and Ratajczak on the breaks.

Szot stood still stage center to sing his signature “This Nearly Was Mine.” His hands were in his pockets until the final chorus when he again went for the heart-breaking last note and the audience stood and cheered. Drawn back for an encore, Szot sang the French lyric introduction to Lancelot’s “If Ever I Would Leave You” and the entire song was a mini-performance. He was very gracious to all the audience when he left the stage.

This is unquestionably the cabaret show that will win every award in its category of Major Male Artists this year.

Paulo Szot continues at 54 Below Friday, August 9 at 8 PM, Saturday, August 10 at 8 PM, and Sunday, August 11 at 7 PM. Reservations are a must because he has been selling out every night.

Another great review

NY CULTURE
August 8, 2013, 11:53 p.m. ET

"The Other-American Songbook

By
WILL FRIEDWALD

Paolo Szot

54 Below

254 W. 54th St. (866) 468-7619

Through Sunday
[image] Alan Nahigian

Paulo Szot

This Brazilian Broadway baritone (who won a Tony for "South Pacific") recalls the essential lower-register voices across the history of recorded sound: Feodor Chaliapin, Paul Robeson, Alfred Drake, Billy Eckstine. Mr. Szot is a warm and engaging performer, interlacing comedy with his sonorous love songs. A medley, in which he considers Broadway roles that require a foreign accent, gives him the chance to show off his chops and milk the crowd for laughs. Whatever he sings, whether it's bossa novas and sambas ("Favela," "Triste") or musical comedy leading-man arias, you want to hear more of it. His encore, "If Ever I Would Leave You," is nothing short of rapturous."
Will Friedwald's Wall Street Journal review

There will be a repeat of a PBS NYC program I caught the tail end of last night on William Kentridge and his creative work on the Met production of "The Nose".I saw Paulo's name in the credits.The repeat is for insomiacs or those with DVR's.....date and time 8/13 at 4am.Kentridge is a genius and Paulo is staring,so it should be interesting

I saw him at the Carlyle, then again at Below 54 on Monday. His voice is amazing but he is now much more relaxed than when he was at he Carlyle. It makes this cabaret experience much richer. He seems to have taken on a new creative team. The musical director was off the hook and looked to be about 15 years old. Insane talent. And his new director, Joe Langworth, did South Pacific with him. I remember Joe used to work at Telsey and was always a mensch when I went there. I can't remember who directed the Carlyle show but this new team definitely got Paulo to open up more.

I thought the accent medley was hilarious -- shows the guy can poke fun at himself.

Guess this shows the pathetic state of the music business. GPR Records just tweeted this
https://twitter.com/gprrecords1/status/366385669188227072/photo/1
to their 47 followers. All of 47! Photo of Paulo Szot looking like a matinee idol talking to an elderly woman. Guess that tweet's supposed to be promotion. What do I know but couldn't he post a photo of him with his "insanely talented" young music director who is in the foreground but in the shadows? Guess the music business is totally a do it yourself thing now. Sometimes I like to listen to the Sirius Sinatra channel. Lots of great older singers are broadcast but as far as the newer singers go, if I have to listen to Rod Stewart or Diana Krall (who I hate) or Paul McCartney (terrible!) butchering the Great American Songbook another minute... But they were promoted before the music business imploded so I guess they go right on, but I'll bet it's really hard for a new singer to break in. Especially if your record company has 47 followers on twitter.

I saw the show 4 times! full houses every single time and of course, guess what?
I'm seeing it again, I can't believe it's the last time...
I hope GPR records will release this album soon.

I WISH PEOPLE WOULD SPELL HIS NAME RIGHT. (not here) So many people spell it Paolo. Someone on ATC just posted the link to the PBS special I just posted here and he spelled his name Paolo. Will Friedwald always spells it Paolo, even his management misspells it
https://twitter.com/ParkAveTalent/status/350240648395362305

There are more tweets under Paolo than under Paulo. Hope he doesn't get discouraged if he looks for comments on twitter.

Here's a whole great review with his name misspelled throughout:

Theater Pizzazz

Fly Me to the Moon with Paolo Szot
August 8, 2013 - Music - Tagged: debuts at 54 Below, Paolo Szot, reviewed by Sandi Durell - no comments



paulo-szot-metropolitan



By: Sandi Durell



Fly me anywhere, anytime with Paolo Szot who’s making his 54 Below debut thru August 11th.

This booming operatic baritone has now made a seamless transition from classical appearances in opera houses worldwide, including the 4000 seat Metropolitan Opera, to the intimate setting of small cabaret spaces. His English is so perfected that he no longer relies upon a music stand and phonetics to get through the grand songs he so lovingly strokes with his masterful vocals. He is a great communicator, filled with passion and emotional resonance rarely heard in a cabaret venue.

Am I going overboard in my praise? No! Probably understating an evening of musical Broadway American Treasures from the Golden Age, along with a celebration of 54 Below’s month long tribute to Brazil and it’s music.

With Szot is an extraordinary young man, Musical Director, Matthew Aucoin whom he met in Rome while performing an opera, who also transitions as if he’s been in the American standards/jazz world all his young life.

Opening with a fusion of “Summertime” and “Too Darn Hot,” the evening was off to a spirited excitement (the arrangement by Aucoin), folding into native tongue Sambas (One Note Samba, Favela, Tristeza, Brazil) with ease and a flow of sensuality, including Jobim classics “Sad/Wave/Desafinado.”

Szot covered the great composers, from Cole Porter’s “Were Thine That Special Face” (Kiss Me, Kate) to Sondheim’s Follies and “Too Many Mornings.” The few interludes of storytelling were playful and humorous as he made a joke of how his English has improved and why – - it’s that book that all foreigners read. You know, the one entitled “The Great Broadway Songs for Actors with Accents!” (not real) But a great prelude to his Broadway Accent Medley that included snippets from “If I Were A Rich Man/Money Makes The World Go Round/A Puzzlement/I Am I, Don Quixote” and even a frisky twist from “A Boy Like That/America.”

I quickly decided that any revival that comes along to Broadway need look no further than Paolo Szot for its male lead.

“Nature Boy” brought a sad, reflective moment with an exquisite solo by David Finck on bass while Burton Lane’s “Old Devil Moon” (Finian’s Rainbow) had a jazzy tempo edge. And, yes, he does sing “Fly Me to the Moon.”

The evening sizzled with passionate sentiment (hmmm, a Latin specialty) particularly poignant in “Bésame Mucho” (drum solo David Ratajczak), when it was revealed that Mexican songwriter Consuelo Velázquez had never experienced a love kiss when she wrote this bolero in 1940.

Paolo Szot (Tony Winner – South Pacific) has the uniqueness of being blessed with a magnificent baritone that thrills and sends chills but that’s because he’s mastered the art of phrasing and interpretation in a flawless presentation.

For those who want to witness his mastery of operatic skill, don’t miss Paolo Szot this Fall at the Metropolitan Opera in Shostakovich’s “The Nose.”

Until then, rush to hear him at 54 Below, 254 West 54 Street (Cellar) only until August 11th. The show is directed by Joe Langworth.
https://www.theaterpizzazz.com/fly-me-to-the-moon-with-paolo-szot/

The Times Square Chronicle review posted above spelled his name wrong too. He got 5 fantastic reviews for this show and 3 reviewers spelled his name wrong.

Here's a bunch of great tweets he probably didn't see because they misspelled his name:

"Just lived and died for Paolo Szot at @54Below."
https://twitter.com/benrimalower/status/365270861055401985


Emily Urquhart ?@emilyurquhart

At @54Below tonight with @fbpac to hear Paolo Szot perform. He should know we're planning to fall in love tonight.
https://twitter.com/emilyurquhart/status/366330784275111937


David Low ?@ydavey

Paolo Szot @54Below gave one of the best shows I've seen since the venue opened. Still cooling off from the heat projected from the stage!
https://twitter.com/ydavey/status/366732648195956738


David Low ?@ydavey

One thing Paolo Szot proved tonight @54Below. He could play the lead in almost any classic musical but especially Man of La Mancha.
https://twitter.com/ydavey/status/366733280042688512


David Low ?@ydavey

Hearing Paolo Szot sing This Nearly Was Mine again @54Below was just breathtaking.


from June
TheNYGalavant ?@TheNYGalavant

Watching #PaoloSzot @LincolnCenter Avery Fisher Hall w/the @NYPhil & singing "This Nearly Was Mine" = #nyctheater panty-dropping eargasm...
https://twitter.com/TheNYGalavant/status/342096271521239040

.@NYPhil Seeing #PaoloSzot & #MeganHilty perform FOLLIES' "Too Many Mornings" @LincolnCenter Avery Fisher Hall = glorious #nyctheater @54Below" width="14" height="14" src=https://cloudimages.broadwayworld.com/board/happy.gif>
https://twitter.com/TheNYGalavant/status/342096849353707520

Since 54 Below has recording facilities, I can only hope something can be done with his performances there.

But not Szot, right? I have seen Lupone, Butz, others.