Theatre Review: 'A Grand Night for Singing' at Goodspeed Musicals

East Haddam - Goodspeed Musicals has reopened the jewel box Opera House with a production entitled “A Grand Night for Singing.” Rob Ruggiero directed this grand night that brings patrons back into the little theatre just over the swing bridge in East Haddam.

Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II fans will not be surprised to learn that this is an evening of a long list of the team’s beloved songs, many from their most successful musicals and a few from their lesser-known work. The updated musical arrangements were done by Fred Wells with orchestrations by Michael Gibson and Jonathan Tunick. The grand night was conceived by Walter Bobbie.

Artistic Director Donna Lynn Hilton welcomed the audience back to the theatre and thanked everyone profusely for returning to live theatre at the matinee I attended. The opera house was surprisingly filled with patrons, but the seat next to me was cordoned off and left empty. Vaccine cards were checked under a tent outside the lobby doors and masks were required at all times.

I expected this celebration of Rodgers and Hammerstein to be a simple concert, a kind of “soft opening” for the Goodspeed Opera House. During the summer, Goodspeed had offered several Goodspeed by the River concerts under a tent that were well-received. It was a pleasant surprise to discover that this was a lot more, with the musical numbers performed by the talented cast as little vignettes.

Perhaps in an attempt to make the two acts more contemporary, there is a lot of gender bending, with some solos written for a traditionally female character sung here by males, as well as the reverse. The romance implied is also all-inclusive, even if it was not in the original musical that included the piece. This light hearted approach to a more broad definition of love was never heavy handed. Other contemporary additions included cell phones, a call to “Alexis,” and a reference to #metoo.

There are nostalgic pieces from “Oklahoma!,” “South Pacific,” “The King and I,” “Carousel,” “Flower Drum Song,” and “Cinderella.” Also represented are the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals “Allegro,” “State Fair,” “Me and Juliet,” and “Pipe Dream.” There were numbers with the entire company, quartets, trios, duets and solos. The number “Shall We Dance?” had a decidedly jazzy feel to its tone.

The inclusive company is made up of five Equity performers that can sing, of course, but can also dance and act. Jasmine Forsberg is the singing actress who also plays her guitar onstage to accompany herself. Mauricio Martinez sang “Maria” from “The Sound of Music” with a lovely Spanish accent and “Something Wonderful” from “The King and I” in both English and Spanish. The phrase “something wonderful” fits the original melody as “algo magico,” which translates to “something magical.”

Jesse Nager has a good amount of charm that he brought to his characters. Mamie Parris may have the strongest voice and she shows it off in “We Kiss in a Shadow” and “This Nearly Was Mine.”

Diane Phelan has a lovely soprano that shines in all of her solos, especially “A Wonderful Guy” from “South Pacific” and “All At Once You Love Her” from “Pipe Dream.”

Kathryn Boswell, the standby for the three ladies in the cast, is the dance captain, and Kevin Schuering is the standby for the gentlemen. The show was charmingly choreographed by Lainie Sakakura; the dancing adds much to the look of the scenes in which it is included.

The musicians that sit along the back of the small stage were conducted by Adam Souza on piano, who was in charge of music direction as well as additional orchestration. Susan Knapp-Thomas played the harp, Edward Fast covered a drum kit and all the rest of the percussion, Liz Baker Smith covered the reeds, Celeste Cumming played the cello and Joe Messina was on upright bass. Every one of the classic musical theatre numbers sounded almost magical.

The sound design by Jay Hilton was almost flawless and the lighting design by Alan C. Edwards made the most of the large sphere above the orchestra and the background. Costumes designed by Alejo Vietti changed from basic black with a few touches of gold in the first act to black and royal blue for the second.

“A Grand Night for Singing: A Celebration of Rodgers & Hammerstein'' is now playing at The Goodspeed through Nov. 28. Get your tickets today: https://bit.ly/3af3UPX
$15 tickets are available to students 12+ for any evening performance of A GRAND NIGHT FOR SINGING. Just call the Box Office at 860.873.8668 starting at 10am on the day of the performance to purchase. You must present your student ID when picking up your tickets at will call.

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theatre reviews since 2012 as a way to support local theatre venues. She posts reviews of well over 100 productions each year. In 2016, she became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle. She continues to contribute theatre news, previews, and audition notices to local Patch sites. Reviews of all levels of theatrical productions are posted on Naugatuck Patch and the Patch sites closest to the venue. She recently became a contributor to the Waterbury Republican-American newspaper. Her weekly column and theatre reviews appear in the Thursday Weekend section of the paper.

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