“Ben Crawford: Broadway and Beyond” featuring the current star of “Phantom of the Opera” on the Great White Way was performed Thursday, January 16, 2020, with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at The Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda, Maryland. Conducting for the BSO was Jack Everly. There will be three more performances at the Meyerhoff in Baltimore, January 17, 18 and 19, 2020.
What happens when you take a group of super talented musicians and put them together with a handsome Broadway baritone? You get a night of perfect harmony.
Ben Crawford has several Broadway musicals to his credit. The Baltimore Symphony is one of the top orchestras. Thursday night at the Strathmore they managed to make an otherwise ordinary day into an extraordinary evening. From the start when the BSO opened with an overture of popular show music, including “Stout Hearted Men” to “The Impossible Dream” the audience was cheering loudly. When Crawford came out things only got better. No matter whether he was singing well known standards, for example, “If Ever I Would Leave You” from “Camelot” and “Some Enchanted Evening” from “South Pacific” or more modern songs, for instance, “You’ll Be Back” from “Hamilton” and “New York State of Mind” by Billy Joel, Crawford never failed to deliver. His vocal range was everything you could want in a leading musical performer, his diction allowed you to hear every word even on songs you might not know and he managed to add an emotional aspect that you would expect in an accomplished Broadway performer. He even did the very witty “Tchaikovsky and Other Composers” first sung by the great Danny Kay. The lyrics list fifty Russian composers with names less memorable, but just as complicated, as Tchaikovsky, quickly and nonsensically. After going through all of this once, the singer came back a repeated it, in Danny Kaye style, even faster. Crawford never lost a beat or slurred a name. It was also great fun.
What happens when you take a group of super talented musicians and put them together with a handsome Broadway baritone? You get a night of perfect harmony.
He ended the night with the song from his show “The Phantom of the Opera,” the haunting “Music of the Night” which followed a medley of other music from the show by the BSO. The audience spontaneously gave him a standing ovation for his very moving rendition.
The last number of the show was my personal favorite Broadway musical song, “Being Alive” by Stephen Sondheim for “Company.” Even though it is often sung by a tenor, Crawford, as stated, is a baritone, it became the most memorable interpretation for me, and I am sure for many in the audience.
The concert moves to the Meyerhoff for the weekend. If you did not see it at the Strathmore, make every effort to get to Baltimore to catch this unforgettable concert of some of the best of Broadway. Ben Crawford and the BSO are a great way to start a New Year. (If you can’t see the BSO and Ben Crawford this time around, they have a long history of concerts together at both venues.)
For information about the BSO performances of “Ben Crawford: Broadway and Beyond” at the Meyerhoff go to the orchestra’s website.
For more information about other performances at the Strathmore by various artists contact Strathmore. The BSO will be returning several times to the Strathmore this season. The next concert will be “Mendelssohn Violin Concerto” on January 26, 2020.
The Music Center at Strathmore is located at 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD 20852.
