Over the Rainbow: The Songs of Harold Arlen
Over the Rainbow: The Songs of Harold Arlen
AMP by Strathmore, North Bethesda, MD, March 14, 2015
Reviewed by Michael Miyazaki for Cabaret Scenes
AMP by Strathmore, one of the D.C.-area’s newest music venues, hosted Over the Rainbow: The Songs of Harold Arlen. The revue was conceived by music director Michael Lavine and featured vocalists Erin Davie, Elisha Gamble and Sean McDermott.
Arlen (pictured) was one of the most prolific of the Great American Songbook writers, as well as one of the most enduring, so it is easy to fill an evening with great material. This show was chock-a-block with audience-friendly hits, including a peppy “It’s Only a Paper Moon” (“If You Believed in Me”), with words by Billy Rose and ,ip Harburg) from Erin Davie, an incredibly optimistic take on “When the Sun Comes Out” (Ted Koehler) by Sean McDermott, a searing “Blues in the Night” (Johnny Mercer) by Elisha Gamble, and a charming Wizard of Oz medley. Lavine is a notable collector of rare sheet music, and the show featured some rarely-performed Arlen gems, including “Contagious Rythym” (Koehler) and “A Lot in Common with You” (Mercer). Also featured was Lavine singing “I Can’t Believe My Eyes,” with a lyric written by Mercer to the music that would become famous with new lyrics by Ira Gershwin: “The Man That Got Away.”
The spoken material provided a simple, clear biographical narrative of Arlen. Except for an arpeggio-laden version of “That Old Black Magic” (Mercer), Lavine presented straightforward arrangements, usually with no piano solos or repeated verses. In a show like this, conceptualized by a music director, it would have been interesting to get more of Lavine’s insights into the musicality of Arlen. Similarly, a medley or two creating relationships between songs would have been a welcome addition.
Category: Cabaret Reviews, DC/Maryland/Virginia, DC/Maryland/Virginia Cabaret Reviews, Regional
