Classic Broadway (百老匯經典)

I didn't expect to be moved. I was. When I flipped through the programme notes of "Classic Broadway" before the concert began at the HKPO's concert for the evening, I saw the titles of various songs from Rogders and Hammerstein's musicals like The King and I, State Fair, Very Warm for May, Showboat, Boys from Syracuse, Babes in Arms, The Sound of Music, South Pacific and Oklahoma and that HKPO will be conducted by a young Oklahoma guy called Gerald Steichen, described as "one of America's most versatile musicians", doing symphonies, chamber music, operas and Broadway. The names of the singers for the night were all new to me too. Heading the list was Lisa Vroman (1) who sung Chrstine in The Phantom of the Opera and both Fantine and Cosette in Les Miserables. It was followed by Gary Mauer(2) who has sung as Raoul in The Phantom of the Opera, Ravenal in The Showboat. The last singer was Williams Michals (3) who has sung Javert in Les Miserables, Trapp in The Sound of Music and title role in The Phantom of the Opera. They all looked seasoned musicians. But after all, it was just Broadway. I would be pleasantly entertained for the evening and then take the MTR home, perhaps with certain lyrics and the music lingering in my head to the sound of the rumbling of the wheels of the trains interrrupted occasionally by the "next station" announcement and the dull and the rather jerky sound of the opening and closing of the train doors accompanied by those the high frequency but totally mechanical and lifless sound of the "bleep, bleep, bleep.". But I was wrong. Some of the music really touched me. Perhaps there's a bit of the American in every one of us: a certain innocence, a certain hope and certain longings in every human soul so well conveyed by Broadway musicals.

The fare for the evening was rich. It represents a fair sample of the favorites of Rodgers and Hammerstein and some of his numbers which I am sure everyone will have heard a million times. It's impossible for me to describe how they struck me one by one. So I'll list them out as they appear in the Programme Notes:

The King and I: Overture

State Fair: It's a Grand Night for Singing (1 + 2+ 3)

Very Warm for May: All the Things You are (2)

Show Boat: Make Believe (1+ 2), Ol' Man River (3)

Boys from Syracuse: Falling in Love with Love (1)

Babes in Arms: Where or When (2)

The Sound of Music: The Sound of Music (1), Lonely Goatherd (1+2+3), Edelweiss (3) and Climb Every Mountain (1+2 +3)

Carousel: Carousel Waltz

South Pacific: There is Nothin' Like a Dame (2 + 3) , A Wonderful Guy (1) and Some Enchanted Evening (3)

The King and I: Shall We Dance (1+2)

Carousel: Soliloquy (3) 

Oklahoma: Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin' (2), People Will Say We're in Love (1+3) and Oklahoma (1+ 2+ 3) 

The quality of the singing was much much better than I expected. Lisa Vroman has a clear and very expressive voice and wonderful body language to accompany her songs. A most attractive young singer in her prime. So was the giant Gary Mauer whose powerful and almost impeccable tenor voice matches his height in every way. William Michals too has a good baritone tone voice which he uses to great advantage. What I like best is the way the singers were able to make use of the very limited space at the front of the stage to create an atmosphere of fun and gaiety where needed to match the moods of the various songs and the way they made use of their facial expressions, their bodily postures, their hand gestures and their dance to get us involved with the music. The size of the little conductor from Oklahoma was totally deceptive: his love of the music turns him into a veritable tiger as tall as Mauer and he would po his hand at the relevant section of the orchestra with the targeting precision of a cat. One sees the highly infectious joy in the music he conducts. Perhaps it's the way the all the musicians threw themselves into the music and the performance which makes it such a moving experience for me. A truly great evening at the Cultural Centre.