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Michael Feinstein: 50 Years of Alan & Marilyn Bergman
(Feinstein's; 140 capacity; $125 top plus $40 minimum)
Band: Michael Feinstein, John Oddo, George Rabbai, David Finck, David Ratajczak, Mark Vinci. Guest: Alan Bergman.
Coming along just after the age of movie musicals, the Brooklyn-born husband-and-wife team has concentrated mostly on theme and incidental songs for motion pictures and television. Their voluminous catalogue demonstrates, again and again, a common touch that makes people (and singers) relate to their songs. Feinstein tells of a friend who told the songwriters he got engaged to "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life," separated to "Where Do You Start," and divorced to "The Way We Were." That makes a clever anecdote, but also speaks highly of the emotional qualities of the Bergman lyrics.
Alan Bergman comes on for 2½ songs, charming the house with his quiet, gentlemanly manner and delivering a mesmerizing, stream-of-conscious rendition of "The Windmills of Your Mind." Referring to his many interpreters -- the list includes Sinatra, Streisand, Ray Charles and Johnny Mathis -- he explains that "you hear in your head how it should be sung, and we've had singers who make it sound better."
"One at a Time," "That Face"-- an engagement present Alan wrote for Marilyn--and "The Way We Were" stand out; the melancholy "I'll Be There" is particularly effective. Quintet is expertly led by Feinstein's long-time musical director John Oddo at the piano, with George Rabbai on trumpet and Mark Vinci on reeds. Composers represented include Michel Legrand, Johnny Mandel, Dave Grusin, David Shire and Marc Shaiman.
Bergman will join Feinstein nightly through the engagement. (Mrs. Bergman was in attendance at the opening, although not on stage.) Also promised is a guest star: Christine Ebersole appeared at the opening, with a wonderful rendition of "Little Boy Lost" (from "Pieces of Dreams"). Among those expected to drop in are Mary Cleere Haran, Lillias White and Marvin Hamlisch.
"When you do what you love with someone you love," the lyricist says as he takes his final bow, "you really have the world" -- a sentiment attested to by the enduring love songs of Alan and Marilyn Bergman.
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