Field of Hope; Brian d'Arcy James Live @ the Temple Theatre

                                                            

Field of Hope

Celebrating 25 Years

Starring

Brian d’Arcy James

 

The Temple Theatre basked in a brilliant sheen of love and remembrance in honor of Dr. Malcom Field’s 50 years of dedicated service to the community. Field’s is celebrating a silver anniversary, 25 years as an organization dedicated to people with neurological afflictions. The mission of Field Neurosciences Institute is the prevention, early diagnosis, care and cure of neurological diseases, disorders and injuries. This honorable pursuit resonates clearly as our community continues to rediscover itself and find meaning in the pursuit of helping others without hidden gain. In this millennium we are finding another way to live with honor and walk the path of integrity. With that in mind, Brian d’Arcy James was the perfect messenger to deliver the universal note. It was a captivating night with an audience merging into an amoeba-like oneness in support of their prodigal son, love was in the air and for that brief flicker in time we held each other and realized we were all together now.

The show opened, curtain drawn with a PowerPoint and a soundtrack that served as a retrospective of Brian’s career in film, stage and television from Shrek, Titanic, Port Authority as well as his self-penned tribute to Saginaw entitled Michigan Christmas (a great song).

Brian opened the show with Everybody Loves You Now, d’Arcy has a strong baritone with an impressive range. His pitch is spot on, a bit toasty but doesn’t not waiver a bit – quite refreshing. James comes off as a charmingly humble, a nice guy – genuine, no diva. He is a natural and he talks with the crowd like he’s in the living room with a few high school buddies. Yet he admits he is absolutely terrified to perform in front of family and friends. James also disclosed that his career started right here on the Temple stage when he auditioned to be one of the munchkins in the Wizard of Oz.

He pushed the veil a bit with his version of the Otis Redding R&B masterpiece Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay. Against all odds he pulled it off, his powerful baritone had a little bit of soul and proved to be a great yet modest arrangement that gave this tarnished bauble a slightly different sheen – it’s like polishing up an old pair of shoes for one more time around the floor. He even got the audience to join him in an off-key whistle fest at the coda. James surprised piano man Dan Lipton with a fresh loaf of Spatz Bread, a legendary local Saginaw bakery.

 

D’Arcy is involved in a play directed by former Saginaw thespian Jack ‘O Brien. It seems that James got out of rehearsal just to do this show and proved it by calling O‘Brien from the stage and getting the audience to give him a Hail Mary at the count of three 1,2,3  –“ Hi JACK!!” It’s a solid slice of community good vibrations flowing between the home town hero and his adoring fans.

He continued with a triad of songs composed by the Beatles. James rendition of Yesterday was a lovely minimalist reading with a quiet piano motif. He segued to Norwegian Wood, a smoky Lennon lament that was fueled by copious amounts of weed. It’s about a brief affair between Lennon and a bird he pulled from a night club. James ends the medley with a stunning portrait of Lennon’s sentimental masterpiece In My Life.

D’Arcy  combines two Johnny Mercer songs One for My Baby (One more for the Road) and October Goes (music by Barry Manilow). The first selection has a neat jazzed up piano the provides the emotional landscape for Joe the bartender giving the unlucky in love protagonist a listening ear and one last taste of the juice, This segues into October Goes. It’s another heartbreaker and d’Arcy’s vocals have just the right touch of pathos. It’s a great tune and the lyrics are bold and sensitive and the music colors the landscape with a powerful melancholy. This is a place you never want to visit. Sample the lyrics…

And when October goes
The same old dream appears
And you are in my arms
To share the happy years
I turn my head away
To hide the helpless tears
Oh how I hate to see October go
I should be over it now I know
It doesn't matter much
How old I grow
I hate to see October go

The next song Save the Last Dance for Me was a big hit for the Drifters in 1960. It was written by Doc Pomus and Mort Schuman, two of the greatest R&B songwriters ever. It’s a song that has a nice syncopation that gets your toes tapping and you just can’t help yourself and the dance floor fills up, the groove is on.

James explains that most of his songs are from musical theatre and that “Shrek is in the house.” He does a great version of the Shrek show stopper Who’d I Be. He introduces the song with a first-hand account of the 90 minute makeup preparation he endured for all of his Broadway performances. It was a great run that required an almost athletic fitness. James emotional reading ended in a powerful crescendo. Perfect!

7 Days is a song about two men vying for the love of tne same woman. The staccato piano rhythms speak to the herky jerky ambivalence in the lyric.  The protagonist says his rival is a Neanderthal but he doesn’t believe she’s bluffing this time around. The middle eight uses a time worn and approved technique citing tasks for each day of the week

Monday, I could wait till Tuesday
If I make up my mind
Wednesday would be fine, Thursday's on my mind
Friday'd give me time, Saturday could wait
But Sunday'd be too late

James is an unabashedly fond of Billy Joel (me too – especially the pre-liquored and balding version of our hero) and his catalog of music is exceptional. d’ Arcy’s baritone shows great range on this pop chestnut. He segues to a triad of wistful chestnuts including Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head, Satchmo’s Wonderful World and Barry Manilow’s ode to love a loss and letting go,  Can’t Live Without You and brings it all back with a reading of Billy Joel’s She’s Got a Way – heartfelt, loving and just a touch of melancholia.

Tempted was the big surprise of the evening – it’s is a great song yet a non-hit by the eighties pop/rock band Squeeze. D’arcy sings it real.

Brian sings Joseph & the Technicolor Dreamcoat. He originally did the song as a high school teen and a few years later at the Midland Center for the Arts. Tonight he reprises the song onstage with a few clips from his Midland performance so many years ago – sharing a personal and collective memory. In honor of his father, d’Arcy sang one of his favorite songs, the Lady is a Tramp, jazzed up Buddy Greco-style.

The finale At last is song made famous by Ella Fitzgerald. It is powerful, even spiritual. The perfect closer

 

At last my love has come along
My lonely days are over
And life is like a song

At last the skies above are blue
My heart was wrapped up in clover
The night I looked at you

I found a dream that I could speak to
A dream that I could call my own
I found a thrill to press my cheek to
A thrill I've never known well

You smile and then the spell was cast
And here we are in Heaven
For you are mine at last

The encore Beautiful City was a key song in the Broadway musical Godspell. It clearly resonates with Brian and audience and he gives it a strong treatment…

When all your trust is all but shattered

When your faith is all but killed

You can give up bitter and battered

Or you can slowly start to build

A beautiful city

Yes, we can; yes, we can

We can build a beautiful city

Not a city of angels

But finally a city of man

 

Brian James is a social visionary, wanting the world to be a pleasant place to live, a better place so there is no more suffering. Our fear is the music will stop and we won’t be able to dance anymore. Yet the arts will survive and we will have hope for the future as long as people like Brian d’Arcy James continues to keep music alive.