Lea Salonga
Music
May 21, 2013 to Jun 08, 2013
Official Site
It’s not surprising that 22 years have changed Lea Salonga from the innocent ingénue who broke our hearts in Miss Saigon to the remarkably confident (and even more gorgeous) woman standing center stage at the Café Carlyle through June 8 in her new cabaret show, “Back to Before.” But what is slightly surprising how much Salonga has matured as a performer even since her first visit to this glorious room just three years ago. Her flawless voice is as breathtaking as ever, but the interpretive skills she now brings to her material has deepened immeasurably. The result is a truly don’t-miss evening!
For the most part, the star concentrates on numbers from the musical theater canon and Great American Songbook that were written long before she was born. But her assured takes on such standards as Rodgers & Hart’s jaunty “Manhattan,” Ray Noble’s ultra-romantic “The Very Thought of You,” and George & Ira Gershwin’s dreamy “How Long Has This Been Going On” make these timeless tunes sound like they were penned just for her.
Salonga also brings a remarkable depth of feeling to some more contemporary material, including Jeff Blumenkrantz, Annie Kessler, and Libby Saines’ heartbreaking “I Won’t Mind,” Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens’ brilliant anthem, “Back to Before,” and a beautifully conceived pairing of Stephen Sondheim’s “So Many People” and “Loving You.” She also treated us to a preview of Jay Kuo’s moving “Higher,” from the forthcoming Broadway musical Allegiance, in which she’s set to star.
Not every singer can switch so easily from theater to pop as Salonga, but two of her final numbers, the inspirational ballad “The Greatest Love of All,” which she delivered with pitch-perfect simplicity, and a remarkably rousing rendition of Alicia Keys’ “Empire State of Mind,” rightly earned the singer some of the night’s strongest applause.
As she joked in her introduction to that pop megahit, if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere. Well, Lea Salonga has made it here (again). If only she would stay!
Tuesday – Friday at 8:45 p.m.
Saturday at 8:45 p.m. & 10:45 p.m.
Tuesday – Thursday, $75 per person ($45, Bar Seating)
Friday & Saturday, $85 per person ($50, Bar Seating)
Author: Brian Scott Lipton
Cafe Carlyle
Cabaret
East 70s
35 E 76th St (Carlyle Hotel)
New York, NY 10021
(212) 744-1600
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All events and times are subject to change.
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