Kelli O’Hara

Kelli O’Hara

Venetian Room, San Francisco, CA, September, 24, 2016

Reviewed by Steve Murray for Cabaret Scenes

Bay Area Cabaret opened its season with Kelli O’Hara, currently one of the hottest talents on Broadway. O’Hara, a classically trained opera singer, won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her performance as Anna Leonowens in the Lincoln Center revival of The King and I. Other successes include nominations for five additional Tony awards for her work in South Pacific, The Light in the Piazza, The Pajama Game, The Bridges of Madison County and Nice Work if You Can Get It. O’Hara lives up to that very high standard, displaying a personable, authentic charm.

Of course she can truly amaze on Broadway tunes like “I Have Dreamed” (The King and I) and “A Wonderful Guy” from South Pacific. Her pitch-perfect regal soprano is at the top of the game.  Her phrasing is immaculate, with a little trill that flutters like hummingbird. I prefer her lower registers or her more challenging material, like beautiful deliveries on Jason Robert Brown’s “To Build Myself a Home” from The Bridges of Madison County, or Sondheim’s “What More Do I Need?” from the musical Saturday Night. She really sinks her teeth into “That’s How I Say Goodbye,” a stunningly poignant Marvin Hamlisch/Craig Carnelia ballad cut from the Broadway version of Sweet Smell of Success.

O’Hara was accompanied by pianist/composer Dan Lipton who wrote the crowd-pleasing “They Don’t Let You in the Opera (If You’re a Country Star),” an almost perfectly autobiographical song for the Oklahoma-born O’Hara. Displaying her songwriting skills, she sang a heartfelt ballad titled “Here Now,” a tribute to her hardworking grandfather. Closer to home, she sang the folk/pop tune “The Sun Went Out” written by husband Greg Naughton. My set highlight was Sondheim’s “Finishing the Hat” from Sunday in the Park with George. It speaks to the creation of beauty, which O’Hara has been doing for quite some time. She’s a woman satisfied with her life, the balance of family and work, and the gratitude she expresses.

Tags: A Wonderful Guy, American Songbook, Anna Leonowens, Bay Area Cabaret, Best Leading Actress in a Musical, Broadway Musicals, Cabaret, Cabaret Reviews, Cabaret Scenes, CD, Clubs, Composers, Craig Carnelia, Dan Lipton, Finishing the Hat, Great American Songbook, Greg Naughton, Here Now, I Have Dreamed, Jason Robert Brown, Jazz, Jazz Singers, Kelli O'Hara, lyricists, Marvin Hamlisch, Musicals, Musicians, Nice Work if You Can Get It, Nightclubs, Oklahoma, Popular Song, Revues, San Francisco, Saturday Night, Show Tunes, Singers, Sondheim, Songbook, South Pacific, Standards, Steve Murray, Sunday in the Park with George, Supper Clubs, Sweet Smell of Success, That’s How I Say Goodbye, The Bridges of Madison County, The King and I, The Light in the Piazza, The Pajama Game, The Sun Went Out, They Don't Let You in the Opera (If You're a Country Star), To Build Myself a Home, Tony Award, Venetian Room, Venues, Vocalists, What More Do I Need?

Category: Cabaret Reviews, Regional, San Francisco, San Francisco Cabaret Reviews