THE LEADING MEN: The Marc of Excellence
By Wayman Wong
01 May 2003
THE WHOLE KITT AND KABOODLE
Tom Kitt is a one-man band who doesn’t like to toot his own horn, but he’s a helluva musician. As a singer-songwriter, he’ll perform May 12 at the Southpaw in Brooklyn and May 16 at the Bitter End in Manhattan. As a musical director, he will accompany Mario Cantone at Comedy Tonight!, a star-studded benefit on May 19 at the 92nd Street Y. As the leader of the Tom Kitt Band, he’ll be rocking Mondays, starting May 26, at the Red Lion. And as a composer, he’s written Feeling Electric (with Brian Yorkey), a musical about shock therapy that’s being developed by Sh-K-Boom Records.
If Kitt weren’t busy enough, this "Jewish suburban boy from Long Island" also has saddled up for Urban Cowboy as its rehearsal conductor.
Jason Robert Brown, the show’s co-composer and conductor, says, "Three days before the tech rehearsals started [in February], I had to fire someone who wasn’t up to the job. I really needed someone who could read music, conduct the band and sing this kind of music. So I called Tom, and he was a lifesaver. Within two days, he learned the entire show and played a runthrough of it perfectly. From there, he had a big chunk of my will."
On March 5, Kitt, who covers for Brown, made his Broadway debut. He led the onstage "Cowboy" band and belted Brown’s Act II opener, "That’s How Texas Was Born," while his lovely actress-wife, Rita Pietropinto, and friends and family cheered. "What a rush," the 29-year-old classically trained pianist recalled. "It was one of the thrills of my life. I love the score. Jeff [Blumenkrantz] and Jason did a fantastic job. It [sounds] country, but it’s rock ‘n’ roll. I felt like Jerry Lee Lewis up there. And the cast was so great!"
As for leading his own band, the 5-foot-11 Kitt has headlined the Mercury Lounge, and Bill Flanagan, a VH1 exec, has raved, "The Tom Kitt Band seems to have everything: great chops, catchy songs and onstage charisma." The band’s dynamic debut CD, "Find Me," not only rocks, its toe-tapping tunes have more hooks than a tackle box. One of their most infectious songs, "Road to You," played on TV’s "Dawson’s Creek."
Kitt’s piano-based pop music is often compared to Elton John and Billy Joel, and this economics major actually got to meet the latter "Piano Man" at his alma mater, Columbia University, in 1994. "He gave a concert and was taking questions, so I asked him for advice on making it in the music business. He said I should write and play constantly to get experience. Then I asked if I could come onstage and do a song with him and he said, ‘Sure.’ It was really cool. We did ‘New York State of Mind,’ and we traded verses. Now the song’s written in C, but I transposed it in A. Billy pointed that out to the audience and then he turned to me and said, ‘I don’t think you have anything to worry about!’”
For more information, visit www.tomkittband.com.
WHERE THE GUYS ARE
There’s so much to see in the New York area: MAC Award winner Michael McAssey toasts his 20th anniversary in showbiz with "Down a Third," a first-rate show, playing May 4 and 11 at 9 PM at Don’t Tell Mama (212-757-0788) and May 5 and 12 at 8 PM at Regents (212 593-3091). . . . If you haven’t seen "Dances With Pitchforks," John Flynn’s Bistro Award-winning one-man show about the Paper Mill Gypsy, let him entertain you May 5 at 9:30 PM at Carolines Comedy Club (212-757-4100). . . . Bobby Short, king of the long runs, celebrates his 35th anniversary at the Café Carlyle from May 6 June 28 (212-744-1600). . . . Tom Postilio, star of Off Broadway’s Our Sinatra, will croon Ol’ Blue Eyes’ tunes to The Manor born on May 8 at 9 PM in West Orange, N.J. (973-731-2360).
If you’re free on May 11, which is a "Sunday, sweet Sunday, with nothing to do," you can catch Telly Leung (Flower Drum Song) making his cabaret debut at 5 PM at Don’t Tell Mama (212-757-0788). . . . Whether it’s fate or Kismet, Scott Coulter, Davis Gaines and Ed Staudenmayer will be the leading men of The Broadway Musicals of 1953 on May 12 at 8 PM at Town Hall (212-840-2824). . . . And the jazzy John Pizzarelli and his "First Family of Cool" will be chillin’ — and thrillin’ audiences — May 27-June 21 at Feinstein’s (212 339-4095).
Finally: David Kenney of WBAI’s "Everything Old Is New Again" (99.5 FM) will be hosting a Broadway & cabaret benefit on Sunday, May 25, from 8-11 PM. There’ll be rare recordings and special in-studio guests (including yours truly). Proceeds will go to this outstanding noncommercial station. Visit www.oldisnew.org.
Got comments or questions? E-mail me at waymanwong@hotmail.com.
Until next month, let’s hear it for the "boys"!
Wayman Wong edits entertainment for the New York Daily News. He has been a movie and theater critic for the San Francisco Examiner and a Drama-Logue Award-winning playwright.
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Jonathan Dokuchitz (L) and Tom Kitt
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| photo by Ben Strothmann, Wayman Wong |
