Matthew Morrison at 54 Below
Jul 13, 2013 to Jul 17, 2013
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“There’s no people like show people, they smile when they are low,” Irving Berlin famously wrote in Annie Get Your Gun. Broadway and television favorite Matthew Morrison proved just how true those words were at 54 Below on Sunday afternoon by giving a dynamic performance of his excellent cabaret show just hours after learning of the untimely death of his Glee co-star Cory Monteith.
Wisely and bravely, Morrison acknowledged Monteith’s death before launching into the act, as well as performing a heartfelt version of the anthem “What I Did For Love” (from A Chorus Line) dedicated to his late friend. But had you walked into the club five minutes later, you’d have had no idea that Morrison was giving audiences anything other than the upbeat show he planned – and delivering it with great panache.
The act, drawn largely from the selections from his new CD “Where It All Began,” is a potent reminder of what a fine showman, singer, and dancer (even on the tiny lip of the stage) that Morrison is. He exhibited a strong jazz sensibility throughout most of the first half, including sassy takes on Duke Ellington’s “It Don’t Mean a Thing” and “Don’t Get Around Much Any More,” as well as “Luck Be A Lady,” “The Lady Is a Tramp,” and a winning medley of “Come Rain or Come Shine” and “Basin Street Blues.”
Morrison also reached frequently into the traditional musical theater canon, but not always in the most expected ways. Accompanied only by drummer Valerie Franco, he raced through a medley of moments from West Side Story earning laughs and applause. He handled two gorgeous ballads usually sung by women, “As Long As He Needs Me” and “Send In the Clowns,” with enormous tenderness. And his gentle take on Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Younger than Springtime” – which he sang for over a year in the Lincoln Center revival of South Pacific – was understated yet beautiful.
Given all the songs he could have chosen for an encore, Morrison opted for Cole Porter’s sizzling “It’s Alright With Me.” And even if everything wasn’t all right in his world, there was no trace of it in his full-bodied rendition, which left the audience on an appropriately high note even on such a low day.
Author: Brian Scott Lipton
54 Below
Concert Halls/Venues
West 50s
254 West 54th St (Cellar)
New York, NY 10019
(646) 476-3551
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