Monday March 7, 2011

Hollywood Crooners: Orchestra London Pop's Series; March 2011

by Brian Hay

The show began with a spirited rendition of 'Charleston'. Under the baton of Conductor Jeff Christmas the orchestra captured the essence of a swing band nicely. It also set the tone for the show.

Neil Donell led the singing with a pair of songs made famous by 'Old Blue Eyes' and captured the feel of Sinatra's delivery perfectly. He gave an indication of the strength of his pipes with the second number, 'Meditation', when he hit and sustained a high note that would leave almost anyone else's vocal chords begging for mercy long before they approached it. He gave another demonstration of his phenomenal range with his performance of 'Candyman' (made famous by Sammy Davis Jr.) a few moments later.

Amber Cunningham took the stage and gave a fiery rendering of 'Say a Little Prayer' which was made famous by Dionne Warwick. She followed it with a performance of 'Over the Rainbow' that was absolutely captivating. That's tough to do considering the dominant effect the piece had on Judy Garland's career. She followed that with an interpretation of Ella Fitzgerald's 'A Tisket, A Tasket' that brought smiles to the house.

The concert was literally a showcase of musical highlights. Amber Cunningham raised the roof with her performance of 'Broadway Diva', especially during the segment from 'Miss Saigon' which closed the piece. She belted out 'Aretha Franklin's '(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman'. She displayed great subtlety with 'Songbird' (Eva Cassidy) and 'Ordinary Miracle' (Sarah McLaclan). (This spell checker just tripped over Sarah Mclaclan's last name—computers clearly have a lot to learn). Neil Donell displayed more of his versatility and range with performances of 'Can't Smile Without You' (Barry Manilow) and 'Crying' (Roy Orbison). He went even farther with 'Everything (Michael Buble) and stunned the house with his interpretation of 'Nessun Dorma'.

The arrangements (probably by Jeff Christmas) were rich and dynamic. Because of the nature of the program much of the emphasis was placed on the drums and winds. The rhythm section, led by drummer Rob Inch, really dominated the way the the arrangements came across. There were other things going on as well though. There were some lovely arrangements for the string players. And there were also things that were so subtle it was easy to miss them. The 'Hollywood Crooner' arrangement began with a lovely solo piano accompaniment played by Steve Holowitz. The first few passages were carried by him and Neil Donell. The rest of the orchestra was filtered in slowly, and so subtlety, it was easy to miss what was happening. It provided a great dramatic effect for the finale of the piece. The program, probably also put together by Jeff, was balanced nicely and gave plenty of space to both performers. The orchestra was led by Émilie Paré who took the Associate Concertmaster's chair and a gentleman who filled the Concertmaster's seat. Unfortunately I was unable to learn this man's name. They did a great job in the absence of Joe Lanza and Mary Elizabeth Brown.

The performers featured had a lot of similarities in that they both have great range and plenty of power behind them but, gender aside, they were as different as night and day. Amber Cunningham is very much a stand-alone interpreter. She stays with the phrasing from the particular interpretation of a song she's performing but, beyond that the readings are entirely hers. 'Songbird' was written by Christine McVie and later covered by Eva Cassidy. Amber's rendition paid homage to both, particularly McVie's original, but she took the piece over completely. She did the same thing with 'Over the Rainbow' Garland's phrasing was used but that was where the similarities ended. Her voice has a seductive layer of velvet in her lower and middle range and crystalline transparency in her high end. She changes genre effortlessly with the only indication of her training as an operatic soprano revealed by her breathing technique. Her stage presence is natural and unaffected. She seems comfortable with the audience even when she isn't doing anything. Not many performers maintain as much eye contact with the people watching the show as she does.

Neil Donell is his own man but he injects character elements that show who the songs belonged to. He's a fabulous mimic (and probably an incorrigible one as well). His gift for this shown with a flourish when he sang the medley named 'Hollywood Crooner'. He ran through a range of musical personas that included Bing Crosby, Johnny Mathis, Dean Martin and laid it on really thick with his impression of Ray Charles. To everyone's delight, he went right over the top with his performance as 'Louis Armstrong'. He cracked everyone up (which suggests that he probably did this in school a few times and lived in detention now and then). Neil's a consummate performer whose gifts are an array of talents honed, undoubtedly, by a lot of hard work. He has a great wit on stage (which he shows by 'adding things' during the portions of dialogue that are partially scripted—more evidence that he may have been in detention now and then). And his vocal range is astonishing. It's impressive enough to be able to sing through four octave. It's another to be able to do so at full strength or close to it. He can and he absolutely floored the audience on several occasions. Many of the people at this show didn't seem to know much about him (at least not if the collective gasps that preceded resounding applause were an indicator). They do now. Neil's talents will be gracing the Red Hot Weekend shows set for Friday and Saturday night of this week. People would do themselves an immense service by attending. He's always great.

This a great show that showed different facets from a variety of musical styles, and also one that showcased two exceptionally gifted performers.

This show took place at Centennial Hall in London, Ontario on Sunday March 6, 2011. This piece was written to give an impression of what it was like to be there.

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