By: Tom Dooney
Love & Hisses: With the only premise being the enjoyment of live music in an intimate setting, Basil & The Broad stood for a short while at BUA Theatre. "Basil" refers to Chuck Basil, the imminent piano player and singer while "The Broad" is BUA's house chanteuse, Kerrykate Abel.
In their onstage banter, Basil and Abel often play at being hardened, bitter show biz warhorses. Don't believe it for a minute. When they get down to business their love of song permeates every sound they make and affection for each other colors every lyric they utter. Most audience find the feeling contagious.
The world has geographic wonders (like our own Niagara Falls), ancient wonders (like the Colassus at Rhodes (whatever happened to him?) and even modern wonders (like Hoover Dam). The must be some list for wonders of the lounge-singing world and Chuck Basil must be on that list.
Chuck performs with a charismatic ease. He is the absolute antithesis of that lizardy crooner character Bill Murray created on Saturday Night Live who forced every emotion and bizarrely extended every note.
Basil lingers and tickles material. Most people, if you poked them with a sharp stick, would say, "Ow." I know I would. I think you would, too. If someone were mean enough to poke Basil with a sharp stick, he would exclaim, "Ow-wow-wow-weee-dee-doh-dee-oh-darling-na-na-na-na-na-mmmm-hmmm...thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen." Born on a piano bench, he, a silver microphone in his hand.
I doubt there is anything Kerrykate Abel cannot sing...TV theme songs, Wagnerian opera, gangster rap...and in medley, no less. Her own songbook is somewhere in the middle of those parameters. Her musicality refreshes older material and her theatricality refines more contemporary stuff.
One highlight of the evening was the introduction of a plaintive song about an overseas soldier. A find in the family attic, it was written by her great-grandfather during WWII. In performance she weds it to Hildegarde's cabaret ditty "Darling, Je Vous Aime Beaucoup". A nice bit of matchmaking.
This running gag of the Abel/Basil feud gets played a bit too often, but in this weekend's show it came to delightful, musical culmination. Their personal rendering of the Broadway duet "Anything You Can Do (I Can Do Better)" is sung to recall their history of entertaining at Stage Door, that dear and departed tavern on Allen Street.
Defying Irving Berlin's lyrics, Basil and Abel compare barroom skills...drinking, barfing, slurring words. "Naw, yer can't" "Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeesh! I! Can! Yesh, I can. Yesh, I... I, uh... huh...zzzzzzzzzzz.")
Musical friendships are made of this.
Who will like Basil & The Broad: Time travelers. This show was a Curtain Up! special, with only three performances. If you can borrow a way-back machine from Sherman and Mr. Peabody, set your dial to last week and enjoy. Future cabaret evenings are on the BUA calendar. Check your listings or inquire of BUA: Buffalobua.com or (716) 886-9239.
Heavenly Music: Forever Plaid, a revue with a something of a story line, offers an impressive catalog of songs. These are titles beloved by fans of mellow of late-50s/early-60s harmonics.
A quartet of wholesome guys who performed as "The Plaids" get a second chance at success. Sadly, they were killed in a highway collision with a busload of Beatles' fans. Momentarily back from the dead almost 50 years, and still looking like four freshmen from college, if they give the show of their lives they will get their eternal rewards.
Beyond plotting, The Plaids' demise represents the day their sort of music died. The swing and syncopation of rock would vanquish the steady symmetry of harmonic groups. Exuberant expression would win out over technical perfection. Mania besting discipline.
Paschal Frisina III, Andy Herr, Nicholas Lama and Marc Sacco sing divinely. Much credit is due to them and to Mark Vona, who accompanies the show and served as musical director. The show is staged by Dale Sandish, a veteran of the original off-Broadway production twenty years ago as well as several others across the country and around the world. Sandish provides an astonishing repertory of hand gestures and postures used by such groups.
The show starts off very slowly. The decision to have the four lads slowly adjust to life amongst the living is not entirely effective. This really doesn't lend reality to the circumstances (...and really, who is looking for realistic justification in a show like this?). For too long the charming actors are forced to be comatose instead of eager for life. Things pick up as the show progresses but throughout the evening extended lulls between songs test one's patience.
There is sweet simplicity at the core of FP. However, the Kavinoky production is lavishly and, one can imagine, expensively produced. The set by David King, lights by Brian Cavanagh and costumes by Dixon Reynolds are expert. Their combined effort is bombastic. While the show suggests the easiness of song sung upon a high and windy hill, Kav provides a Himalayan showbiz spectacle. It's as jarring as a 3D version of The Glass Menagerie would be or a Las Vegas production of Our Town.
Now, I'm happy to wish any good show success and $300 million in ticket revenues (That's worldwide, not just at Kav. Check the Forever Plaid website. Google it.) After twenty years, FP is more than a show, it's an international commercial product. This far from its makeshift beginning in little theatres, FP's original heartbeat seems faint.
Unusually, the show winds down by gearing up its energy with its most successful moment. Having displayed their musical talents throughout the show, the boys pull out the stops displaying with a rapid succession of other skills...juggling, circus stunts, celebrity mimicry, comedy, ventriloquism (well...fake ventriloquism). This five minutes has as much oomph as the entire balance of the show and was a crowd pleaser.
Marc Sacco, a veteran of the revue format, holds a standard in this sort of work for others to follow. Rather than a medal for services in the concert/ersatz-concert format, someone should hand Sacco a showcase to fully display his impressive talents. Paschal Frisina has a breakthrough musical moment with "Rags To Riches". Newcomers Andy Herr and Nicholas Lama also serve the onstage team well.
Who will like Forever Plaid: Most likely, the show will be appreciated best by those who lived through the Eisenhower era and by those who don't have to ask "Who's Ed Sullivan?"
Forever Plaid: (through October 10); starring Paschal Frisina III, Andy Herr, Nicholas Lama and Marc Sacco with musical direction by Mark Vona. Written by Stuart Ross. Directed by Dale Sandish for Kavinoky Theatre, on the D'Youville College campus (Porter & Prospect, Buffalo) kavinokytheatre.com or (716) 829-7668.
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Love & Hisses: With the only premise being the enjoyment of live music in an intimate setting, Basil & The Broad stood for a short while at BUA Theatre. "Basil" refers to Chuck Basil, the imminent piano player and singer while "The Broad" is BUA's house chanteuse, Kerrykate Abel.
In their onstage banter, Basil and Abel often play at being hardened, bitter show biz warhorses. Don't believe it for a minute. When they get down to business their love of song permeates every sound they make and affection for each other colors every lyric they utter. Most audience find the feeling contagious.
The world has geographic wonders (like our own Niagara Falls), ancient wonders (like the Colassus at Rhodes (whatever happened to him?) and even modern wonders (like Hoover Dam). The must be some list for wonders of the lounge-singing world and Chuck Basil must be on that list.
Chuck performs with a charismatic ease. He is the absolute antithesis of that lizardy crooner character Bill Murray created on Saturday Night Live who forced every emotion and bizarrely extended every note.
Basil lingers and tickles material. Most people, if you poked them with a sharp stick, would say, "Ow." I know I would. I think you would, too. If someone were mean enough to poke Basil with a sharp stick, he would exclaim, "Ow-wow-wow-weee-dee-doh-dee-oh-darling-na-na-na-na-na-mmmm-hmmm...thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen." Born on a piano bench, he, a silver microphone in his hand.
I doubt there is anything Kerrykate Abel cannot sing...TV theme songs, Wagnerian opera, gangster rap...and in medley, no less. Her own songbook is somewhere in the middle of those parameters. Her musicality refreshes older material and her theatricality refines more contemporary stuff.
One highlight of the evening was the introduction of a plaintive song about an overseas soldier. A find in the family attic, it was written by her great-grandfather during WWII. In performance she weds it to Hildegarde's cabaret ditty "Darling, Je Vous Aime Beaucoup". A nice bit of matchmaking.
This running gag of the Abel/Basil feud gets played a bit too often, but in this weekend's show it came to delightful, musical culmination. Their personal rendering of the Broadway duet "Anything You Can Do (I Can Do Better)" is sung to recall their history of entertaining at Stage Door, that dear and departed tavern on Allen Street.
Defying Irving Berlin's lyrics, Basil and Abel compare barroom skills...drinking, barfing, slurring words. "Naw, yer can't" "Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeesh! I! Can! Yesh, I can. Yesh, I... I, uh... huh...zzzzzzzzzzz.")
Musical friendships are made of this.
Who will like Basil & The Broad: Time travelers. This show was a Curtain Up! special, with only three performances. If you can borrow a way-back machine from Sherman and Mr. Peabody, set your dial to last week and enjoy. Future cabaret evenings are on the BUA calendar. Check your listings or inquire of BUA: Buffalobua.com or (716) 886-9239.
Heavenly Music: Forever Plaid, a revue with a something of a story line, offers an impressive catalog of songs. These are titles beloved by fans of mellow of late-50s/early-60s harmonics.
A quartet of wholesome guys who performed as "The Plaids" get a second chance at success. Sadly, they were killed in a highway collision with a busload of Beatles' fans. Momentarily back from the dead almost 50 years, and still looking like four freshmen from college, if they give the show of their lives they will get their eternal rewards.
Beyond plotting, The Plaids' demise represents the day their sort of music died. The swing and syncopation of rock would vanquish the steady symmetry of harmonic groups. Exuberant expression would win out over technical perfection. Mania besting discipline.
Paschal Frisina III, Andy Herr, Nicholas Lama and Marc Sacco sing divinely. Much credit is due to them and to Mark Vona, who accompanies the show and served as musical director. The show is staged by Dale Sandish, a veteran of the original off-Broadway production twenty years ago as well as several others across the country and around the world. Sandish provides an astonishing repertory of hand gestures and postures used by such groups.
The show starts off very slowly. The decision to have the four lads slowly adjust to life amongst the living is not entirely effective. This really doesn't lend reality to the circumstances (...and really, who is looking for realistic justification in a show like this?). For too long the charming actors are forced to be comatose instead of eager for life. Things pick up as the show progresses but throughout the evening extended lulls between songs test one's patience.
There is sweet simplicity at the core of FP. However, the Kavinoky production is lavishly and, one can imagine, expensively produced. The set by David King, lights by Brian Cavanagh and costumes by Dixon Reynolds are expert. Their combined effort is bombastic. While the show suggests the easiness of song sung upon a high and windy hill, Kav provides a Himalayan showbiz spectacle. It's as jarring as a 3D version of The Glass Menagerie would be or a Las Vegas production of Our Town.
Now, I'm happy to wish any good show success and $300 million in ticket revenues (That's worldwide, not just at Kav. Check the Forever Plaid website. Google it.) After twenty years, FP is more than a show, it's an international commercial product. This far from its makeshift beginning in little theatres, FP's original heartbeat seems faint.
Unusually, the show winds down by gearing up its energy with its most successful moment. Having displayed their musical talents throughout the show, the boys pull out the stops displaying with a rapid succession of other skills...juggling, circus stunts, celebrity mimicry, comedy, ventriloquism (well...fake ventriloquism). This five minutes has as much oomph as the entire balance of the show and was a crowd pleaser.
Marc Sacco, a veteran of the revue format, holds a standard in this sort of work for others to follow. Rather than a medal for services in the concert/ersatz-concert format, someone should hand Sacco a showcase to fully display his impressive talents. Paschal Frisina has a breakthrough musical moment with "Rags To Riches". Newcomers Andy Herr and Nicholas Lama also serve the onstage team well.
Who will like Forever Plaid: Most likely, the show will be appreciated best by those who lived through the Eisenhower era and by those who don't have to ask "Who's Ed Sullivan?"
Forever Plaid: (through October 10); starring Paschal Frisina III, Andy Herr, Nicholas Lama and Marc Sacco with musical direction by Mark Vona. Written by Stuart Ross. Directed by Dale Sandish for Kavinoky Theatre, on the D'Youville College campus (Porter & Prospect, Buffalo) kavinokytheatre.com or (716) 829-7668.
Umm......Chuck Basil "the imminent piano player" ?? I suppose that's better than being the late piano player !!!