Scott Coulter, Carole J. Bufford, Christina Bianco:11 O’Clock Numbers at 7 O’Clock
Scott Coulter, Carole J. Bufford and Christina Bianco
11 O’Clock Numbers at 7 O’Clock
Birdland, NYC, December 8, 2014
Reviewed by Ron Forman for Cabaret Scenes
Scott Siegel’s 11 O’Clock Numbers at 11 O’Clock, which was performed every Thursday night for eight months at Feinstein’s at Loews Regency, was revived at an earlier hour at Birdland. I had seen the show twice at Feinstein’s, and it seemed every bit as fresh and lively this third time around. An 11 o’clock number is a show-stopping song that occurs late in a Broadway musical, to re-energize the audience. The original cast of Scott Coulter, Carole J. Bufford and Christina Bianco amusingly provided the context of each of the 14 songs and performed them with great energy.
Coulter opened with “Tomorrow,” followed by Bianco’s “Gimme, Gimme” (Thoroughly Modern Millie) and Bufford’s “There Are Worse Things I Could Do” (Grease). Their voices blended beautifully on “Manhattan Madness” (Irving Berlin’s Face the Music.) Coulter added a touching “For Good” (Wicked). which was not in the original production. Bufford belted “What Did I Have That I Don’t Have?” The 11 o’clock number of the show had Bianco amazingly performing “Cabaret” as Barbra Streisand, Bernadette Peters, Julie Andrews, Patti LuPone and Celine Dion would have sung it. The ensemble performed the closing number “Being Alive” and encored with an unplugged “What I Did for Love.”
(Photo: Kevin Alvey)
Category: Cabaret Reviews, New York City, New York City Cabaret Reviews
