Megan Hilty and New Jersey Symphony Orchestra

Ron Forman | March 15, 2016

Megan Hilty and New Jersey Symphony Orchestra

Valentine’s Day with Megan Hilty and the NJSO

NJPAC, Newark, NJ, February 13, 2016

Reviewed by Ron Forman for Cabaret Scenes

Photo: Albert Michael/startraksphoto.com

The New Jersey Performing Arts Center is a beautiful and comfortable venue to see and listen to a large symphony orchestra. The extremely talented Megan Hilty joined the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra for a Valentine’s Day evening of some of the best love songs, chosen from Broadway and Hollywood. Hilty’s voice was strong enough to transcend the orchestra, but never appeared to be straining, and it blended wonderfully with the luxurious sound of the orchestra.

The show opened with the orchestra, led by Todd Ellison, performing an overture that began with “That’s Entertainment” and ended with “There’s No Business Like Show Business.” It then performed “Moon River,” “Tara’s Theme” from Gone with the Wind and Ennio Morricone’s haunting “Deborah’s Theme” from Once Upon a Time in America. Hilty entered, looking stunning in a gold gown, and opened her first set with a rousing “Come Rain or Come Shine.” Before singing a medley of “Almost Like Being in Love” and “This Can’t Be Love,” she then told the story of meeting and falling in love with her husband. She closed Act I, amidst cheers from the audience, by performing all of the choruses to “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.”

Act II opened with the orchestra’s medley from My Fair Lady, followed by a another medley, this one from Wicked, in which Hilty starred for more than four years. She reappeared in a gorgeous red gown and began with an up-tempo “April in Paris.” She then displayed her lovely soprano in her touching performance of “Tenderly.” Hilty, who had portrayed an actress portraying Marilyn Monroe in the television series Smash, closed with “Movin’ the Line,” a song written for that series. Her encore was a movingly sung “Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep).”

Tags: Albert Michael, Almost Like Being in Love, American Songbook, April in Paris, Broadway, Broadway Musicals, Cabaret, Cabaret Reviews, Cabaret Scenes, CD, Clubs, Come Rain or Come Shine, Composers, Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep), Deborah’s Theme, Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend, Ennio Morriocne, Gone with the Wind, Great American Songbook, Jazz, Jazz Singers, lyricists, Marilyn Monroe, Megan Hilty, Moon River, Movin’ the Line, Musicals, Musicians, My Fair Lady, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Newark, Nightclubs, NJPAC, Once Upon a Time in America, Popular Song, Revues, Ron Forman, Show Tunes, Singers, smash, Songbook, Standards, Supper Clubs, Tara’s Theme, Tenderly, That's Entertainment, There’s No Business Like Show Business, This Can't Be Love, Todd Ellison, Venues, Vocalists, Wicked