DIVA TALK: Catching Up with Karen Mason Plus Broadway Goes Unplugged and News of Lacey and Peters

By Andrew Gans
23 Sep 2005

DIVA TIDBITS

The next time Barbara Walsh presents her solo cabaret act I have to make sure to catch it. For the second straight year the star of Broadway's Falsettos and, currently, Hairspray, was one of the highlights of the Broadway Unplugged concert, which featured a host of theatre and cabaret stars performing without amplification. Last year Walsh thrilled with William Finn's "Holding to the Ground," and this past Monday night she was equally dazzling with Stephen Sondheim's "Losing My Mind," building the torch song to a belty climax. Walsh is a singer who takes risks: She sings to the very top of her range, which makes it especially exciting for an audience member. She also is completely focused on each and every lyric she sings, serving the song completely. If Walsh was my favorite of the women featured at Town Hall, Norm Lewis was the most enjoyable of the men, wrapping his rich, creamy voice around A New Brain's "I'd Rather Be Sailing." Other highlights included Sutton Foster's letter-perfect rendition of Rodgers and Hart's "Where or When," Deven May's full-voiced and deeply felt version of Sondheim's "Being Alive," Mary Bond Davis' roof-raising "I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues" and Alice Playten energetic, audience-interactive "No Time at All." Created, written and hosted with charm by cabaret critic Scott Siegel, the sold-out evening was thankfully recorded for future CD release.

Former Evita Florence Lacey, who was part of the recent Off-Broadway musical Under the Bridge, will join the previously announced Carolee Carmello for the new musical Saving Aimee at the White Plains Performing Arts Center. With book and lyrics by Kathie Lee Gifford, music by David Pomeranz and additional music by Gifford and David Friedman, Saving Aimee — about the life of twentieth-century evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson — will play the New York theatre Oct. 14-23. The cast — under the direction of Eric Schaeffer — will also feature Raissa Katona Bennett, Don Bovingloh, Dan Cooney, Angela DeCicco, Aisha de Haas, Matthew Gumley, Will Erat, Steve Horst, Joseph Kolinski, Matt Loney, Ellyn Marie Marsh, Victoria Matlock, Mike McGowan, James Moye, Gabi Nicole, Cristina Marie Norrup, Joe Paparella, Jim Price and Harry Winter. The White Plains Performing Arts Center is located at 11 City Place in White Plains, NY. Tickets, priced $30-$45, are available by calling (888) 977-2250. Visit www.wppac.com for more information.

The upcoming season of Lincoln Center's American Songbook series, which is devoted to the American popular song, was announced earlier this week. The Allen Room of the Frederick P. Rose Hall will offer concert evenings with Ragtime's Brian Stokes Mitchell (Jan. 12, 2006), jazz vocalist Andy Bey (Jan. 13), opera star Deborah Voight (Jan. 25), The Light in the Piazza Tony winner Victoria Clark (Feb. 10), and the Naughton Family (James, Greg, Keira, Feb. 23). Tributes to several American songwriters are also planned for the Allen Room: Daisy Prince will direct It's Only Life: The Songs of John Bucchino on Jan. 27. That evening will feature performances by Jessica Molaskey and Billy Porter, among others. Eric Comstock will celebrate the centennial of Jule Styne with The Music That Makes Me Dance: A Jule Styne Songbook on Feb. 8, and Feb. 11 will feature the Loser's Lounge Tribute to Burt Bacharach. With musical direction by Joe McGinty, the Bacharach evening is set to include singers Deborah Harry, Michael Cerveris, John Flansburgh, Nick Danger, Patti Rothberg and Steve Wynn. Barbara Cook, Brent Barrett and Brian d'Arcy James will lend their vocal magic to the Feb. 24 concert Go the Distance: The Lyrics of David Zippel, and the Allen Room season will conclude with Lillias White in My Guy Cy: Lill' Celebrates Cy Coleman. White's evening is planned for Feb. 25. The Songbook season will conclude on May 1 with a concert from two-time Tony Award winner Bernadette Peters. Backed by a 28-piece orchestra, Peters will perform at Avery Fisher Hall, part of Lincoln Center's Spring Gala. Tickets for the American Songbook season are available by calling (212) 721-6500. Visit www.lincolncenter.org for more information.

Well, that's all for now. Happy diva-watching! E-mail questions or comments to agans@playbill.com.

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