Backus Auditorium is a long way from Broadway but you wouldn’t have known it back on Feb. 1 when the Border Concert Association presented the third concert in this season’s series.
Billed as “An Enchanted Evening: The Music of Broadway,” the show featured two vocalists–Lee Lessack and Joanne O’Brien–in a cabaret-styled performance that brought back memories of the golden age of Broadway.
Lessack and O’Brien covered the musical spectrum from Rodgers and Hammerstein to Andrew Lloyd Webber–with lots of stops in between. The show’s format consisted primarily of medleys woven together in a smooth, seamless production.
O’Brien did a remarkably good–albeit slightly tongue-in-cheek–impression of Julie Andrews in a medley of tunes from “Mary Poppins” and “The Sound of Music.”
Not only did she capture the famous voice and accent accurately but she somehow managed to make herself look like Julie Andrews, as well.
Meanwhile, Lessack’s powerful voice and energetic stage presence were featured in several solos, including “Old Devil Moon” and “Bring Him Home.”
However, this duo is at its best when both performers are singing together. Their harmony is exquisite, their dynamic range impressive, and they possess that certain indefinable spark that characterizes so many of the great Broadway stage performers.
The pair closed the show with “Music of the Night” and “All I Ask of You”–two hit songs from “Phantom of the Opera”–and the electricity was certainly there.
Maybe it wasn’t Broadway but it sure was enchanting.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
