What's the use of wondrin'? When two guys named Brian Farley and David Gurland recently sang the songs of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein lll in an intimate boite, something wonderful happened. Because these two talented dudes have so much fun, it is surprising the idea wasn't hatched sooner. One also might wonder why the show wasn't named “I Had A Ball,” after the 1964 Buddy Hackett/Richard Kiley jaunt that older theater buffs still remember with a smile. That show was filled with so much vaudevillian shtick that it didn't seem much like a structured show (besides, the songs were by Stan Freeman and Jack Lawrence.) But this show brimmed over with more fun than should be legal. And, from the get-go, it was quite obvious that these guys simply - had a ball.
Well, it isn't the golden age of Broadway and it wasn't in a real theater. It's 2008 and cabaret's got David Gurland and Brian Farley who offered one of the best musicals in recent memory. Seeing these two buoyant singers who brought good-natured fun, emotional balance, originality and terrific vocals to everything they did, made any observer acutely aware of the variables cabaret has to offer. And, singing such legendary warhorses from “The King & I,” “Carousel,” “The Sound of Music” and “South Pacific,” brought it all full circle into a world where musical theater and cabaret remain first cousins. And they did it all in T-shirts and sports jackets.
If Farley and Gurland are the furthest thing from the kind of sunny Broadway babies that permeated those R & H musicals, fear not. Together, they stood as effectively strong interpreters adding their own spin to the catalog as they wove familiar numbers like, “”It Might As Well Be Spring” (in a heartfelt reading by Farley) and “A Wonderful Guy” (given a tender treatment by Gurland,) in intriguing and softer lights that brought a fresh meaning to these gems. A pensive pairing of “Love Look Away” with “This Nearly Was Mine” was exceptional and reinvented two classic beauties. The results were musical magic.
The openly gay duo, accompanied by musical director/arranger Tracy Stark, fused wit, impeccable taste and a serious dose of camp to a show that left the SRO crowd cheering for more. Without losing any of its content, they found a new way to offer an outrageously complex “Do Re Mi” from “The Sound of Music.” It was brilliantly arranged six ways from Sunday in counterpart, harmonies and tempi changes. And, they had wild fun with the non-sequitur, counterpoint silliness making this deceivingly difficult duet look easy.
Gurland has been successfully jumping around the club scene for more than a decade. Farley just got started a couple of years ago in a duet act with his brother. Respectively, both have won considerable acclaim and awards. Together, they can be funny or trenchant. They kept the laugh meter racing and had fun making the audience laugh out loud with clever asides and tongue in cheek bantering throughout. Ultimately, as much fun as they had up there, they truly shined when they turned off the jokes and showed what terrific vocalists they are. Gurland, a rangy tenor with a penchant for a well-honed falsetto and Farley, a strong lyric baritone, held their own on solos or in duets through some popular staples like a medley from “The King & I.” On “Hello Young Lovers,” their voices meshed seamlessly and it only got better with a fully realized “I Have Dreamed” which segued into “Something Wonderful.” It all created another fine moment.
This show was an instance of two performers having their cake and eating it too. That is, Farley and Gurland took the mostly sunny catalog of Rodgers and Hammerstein and managed to turn classic love songs into a running dialog of serious and comical musical poetry that connected both truth and fiction leaving several generations misty-eyed. By singing these songs so well, with succinct phrasing, they effectively honored the words and music of a bevy of evergreens from the rarity, “Something Good,” from the 1965 film version of “The Sound of Music,” to the majesty of, “You'll Never Walk Alone” from “Carousel” (1945.)
An unlikely, droll centerpiece of the show was a comic “dance break” that featured, “Shall We Dance” in medley with the likes of “Honey Bun” from “South Pacific,” “Small House of Uncle Thomas” (“The King and I” - 1951,) “June Is Busting Out All Over” (“Carousel”) and “Happy Talk” (“South Pacific” - 1949.) This musical cantata suggests there is a wealth of more unfamiliar songs from this legendary songwriting team that deserves to be re-examined. More of this might have been explored here. In this collaboration, Farley and Gurland co-arranged all the songs with Tracy Stark.
Mssrs. Farley and Gurland spiced all this great music with well chosen anecdotes. In the end, this show was a strong entry with some very familiar material that was given a breath of fresh air. Word is that the show will be returning in the fall. Let's hope so.
The Laurie Beechman Theater at the West Bank Cafe'
407 West 42nd street (off Ninth Avenue)
For reservations and information: (212) 695 6909