The Town Hall in New York City is on West 43rd Street, within belting distance of the theaters where Broadway's history is made. In three shows produced, written and hosted by Scott Siegel, that history was embraced at the Hall all weekend in a new (billed as "first annual") series called Broadway Cabaret Festival. The opening night concert presented songs by John Kander and Fred Ebb, a tip of the hat with tip-top tunes selected from their long partnership. Saturday night found two very young theater performers giving their regards to Broadway hits of yesterday. The final event, Sunday's Broadway Originals! brought back original cast leading players to recreate musical moments.

Euan, The Night And The Music

The first half of Saturday's concert presented Euan Morton. The Scottish gent, who starred in the recent Taboo, has performed on The Town Hall's stage in both Broadway Unplugged concerts (without amplification) and has been on the bill there for Broadway by the Year. His musical director/pianist was Jenny Cartney, with Ratso Harris on bass, James Tsao on violin and drummer Rob Garcia. Singers Tracy Olivera and Eleasha Gamba provided backup and had an extra spot to sing on their own with Sweet Charity's "There's Gotta Be Something Better Than This."

Euan's songs were interspersed with comments, some self-deprecating, which let the audience get to know him. For example, he talked about his lack of expertise as a dancer to lead into "I Won't Dance," the oldest song on the bill. As his selection from Taboo, he chose a song he did not get to perform in that show: "Talk Amongst Yourselves." A special arrangement (by Will Gartshore and Jay Crowder) called "A Medley for Loiterers" combined "Leaning on a Lamp Post," "On the Sunny Side of the Street," and "On the Street Where You Live." 

Euan began with "I Am What I Am" from La Cage aux Folles and closed with Paul Simon's "American Tune."  The young performer is currently playing the lead in the California production of Brundibar, adapted by Tony Kushner, and has his first solo album, New-Clear, planned for release in the spring. 

Eden Espinosa - From Brooklyn to Argentina

Eden Espinosa's concert debut was the second half of Saturday's program. "Don't Cry For Me, Argentina" and "I Don't Know How to Love Him" were her two Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice choices. Groups of younger theatergoers who've become her fans were prominent and vocal. She treated them to songs from her two New York musicals: Wicked and Brooklyn. While Wicked brought the big number, "Defying Gravity," Brooklyn got a bit more attention: in discussing the show's development, she presented not only "Once Upon a Time" but an earlier version of the number and the song originally written for the same spot.

Eden's band was led by pianist James Sampliner who provided the arrangements and orchestrations for fellow players Irio O'Farrill (bass), John Putnam (guitar), Jack Bashkow (flute, sax) and percussionist John Clancy.

A varied program in both orchestration and musical eras ranged from the contemporary and strong "And I Will Follow" to the 1926 George and Ira Gershwin classic, "Someone to Watch Over Me," her simple encore with piano.  Both Euan and Eden chose songs from Stephen Sondheim and Rodgers and Hammerstein. The concert served to demonstrate that the singers are flexible - and so is the material.

BROADWAY ORIGINALS

On Sunday afternoon, theater fans who were not able or old enough to see some of the earlier landmarks in Broadway history got a chance to time travel with the originators. Bringing back a roster of performers to revisit songs they sang on Broadway years ago provided history and charisma. A few shows were represented by revival productions and several were not all that old, such as Swing! (although its score included one of the oldest songs on the bill, "Blues in the Night," sung and played by Ann Hampton Callaway). Randy Graff offered "The Next Best Thing to Love" heard in A Class Act and that show's title might have served as a subtitle for the afternoon's presentation.