Brian Stokes Mitchell at Feinstein’s/54 Below
When “I Don Quixote” (Man of La Mancha – Mitch Leigh/Joe Darion) erupts from the stage, audience backs straighten, ears perk. Perhaps this, more than success in Kiss Me, Kate or Ragtime will always epitomize Brian Stokes Mitchell’s Broadway image. Ironically, the artist could probably play the role more fully today, having reached a riper point in life experience. Stokes Mitchell, should you not have observed him on the news singing “Impossible Dream” out his window during the height of the pandemic, is as handsome and charming as you recall.
This untitled show is an amalgam of jazz songs the artist enjoys performing, theater favorites, and audience requests (with a strong suspicion of planted suggestions.) An original pairing of “Take the A Train” (Billy Strayhorn/Joya Sherrill) and “Another Hundred People” (Stephen Sondheim – Company) weaves between musical genres with skill. The dissonant sound of Bob Magnuson’s soprano saxophone, however, fights with rather than supports Mitchell’s much lower delivery in this and other numbers.
Astonishingly written when Strayhorn was all of 15, the sophisticated, now iconic “Lush Life” (for which Duke Ellington is often credited) is accompanied by Tedd Firth’s smoky, shadow piano with just the right exhaustion and jaded resignation. The musician paints with his instrument. Stokes Mitchell’s style (I haven’t seen him in years) now presents as shorter phrasing, those famous long, resonant notes emerging only at the end as emotion resists exit.
“Love For Sale” (Cole Porter) bounces in as mid-tempo swing, an odd choice for its world-weary lyric. The artist seems to be aiming at portraying Sportin’ Life (the oily villain from Porgy and Bess). Nifty call/response plus scat is played out with the sax.
A heart on his sleeve kinda guy, Stokes Mitchell shares Maury Yeston’s lovely “New Words”: Call it “the moon”, my son,/Say “moon”/Sound like your spoon, my son,/Can you say it?/New words today!/Say “moon”, which he in fact sang to a son who just graduated high school. Kneeling on the stage, he conjures the boy to strains of delicate piano. Later, a medley of 1940s tunes his father particularly liked offers low key performance and less complex arrangements, all appealing and warm.
Antonio Carlos Jobim’s iconic “The Waters of March,” described as “a stream of consciousness list song,” is bookended by sounds of rain drops, dotted piano, a light triangle, brushes. The extremely creative arrangement surges like water, gathers force, then retreats. Stokes Mitchell joins the band on melodica. Firth hunches over keys almost undulating into rhythm.
On this selection and “Satin Doll” (Billy Strayhorn) McLean showcases inimitable talent. The latter casts him in the role of unseen “jazz tap” dancer, one whose style Stokes Mitchell distinguishes from that of Broadway. We picture the choreography. During an instrumental break, McLean’s hands seem to move like hummingbird’s wings. Airbrushed singing concocts an atmospheric scenario. “Pick Yourself Up” (Jerome Kern/Dorothy Fields) is also dancy. Stokes Mitchell looks like he’s itching to do so.
Call-out requests elicit Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein II’s “Some Enchanted Evening” and Lynn Ahrens/Stephen Flaherty’s “Wheels of Time” from Ragtime. The Coalhouse Walker song is just beautiful. Stokes Mitchell imbues it with the soul of George M. Cohan’s belief in the best of America. Arms extend, fist and splay, head tilts back, eyes close.
We end, of course, with “Impossible Dream” – bass thrum, flute, percussive march, open arms; up an octave for the second verse. Then, just to add a dash more optimism, “What a Wonderful World” (Bob Thiele/George David Weiss). The show is sentimental, loosey goosey and sincere.
Photos by Michael Allan Galvez.
Brian Stokes Mitchell at Feinstein’s/54 Below
Musical Director/Piano – Tedd Firth
Woodwinds – Bob Magnuson
Bass – Jordyn Davis
Percussion – Mark McLean
The special Diamond Series of which this was a part includes a three course meal and welcome champagne included in the ticket price, as is tax and gratuity.
