Broadway’s Monday Night Double Feature: Lincoln Center’s Ruby Gala and a Kander Birthday Bash
There were four outfit repeaters zipping around the Theater District on Monday night: me, my date for the evening, Victoria Clark, and Kelli O’Hara. But you couldn’t blame any of us—as is often the case near the end of the Broadway season, especially on Monday nights when most theaters are dark, there were benefits to attend. (And the ladies, at least, not only looked phenomenal but performed at both.)
At 6:30 p.m., at the district’s northwesternmost stretch, Lincoln Center Theater held its Ruby Jubilee Gala, honoring 40 years and its outgoing producing artistic director, André Bishop. Then at 8:00 p.m., down near the Main Stem’s southeasternmost reaches—cosmically appropriate, given the venue—the Roundabout Theatre Company’s annual benefit concert celebrated composer John Kander’s 98th birthday.
Seldom in a scene report do I get the chance to submit something into the canon of theatrical knowledge that those in love with this ephemeral form hold so dear. But the creative team behind Roundabout’s benefit (director-choreographer Susan Stroman, playwright David Thompson, and the company’s artistic director Scott Ellis—collaborators on two previous Kander projects, And the World Goes ‘Round and Steel Pier) crafted a truly special marriage of lineup and setlist. The kind that will induce groans of FOMO and send fans scrambling for bootlegs online. I’ll reproduce that inspired list below, as well as the lyrics to a lovely unpublished song performed by David Hyde Pierce—written and composed by Kander for his longtime partner, now husband, Albert Stephenson, after they met in 1977.
Before that, the sunken atrium of Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater swarmed with over 1,000 guests sipping the gala’s specialty cocktail: a deep red mix of Martini Fiero and tonic. Ruby being the 40th anniversary gemstone, guests were encouraged to dress the fiery part. Upon arriving—and knowing I’d have to dash out directly after the show—the company’s publicist asked, “Where are you going after, Chita or MTC?” (As if the community weren’t already stretched thin enough, that night also held the dance-centric Chita Rivera Awards and the Manhattan Theatre Club’s annual gala.)
An array of company stalwarts performed selections reflecting LCT’s notably highbrow productions: the ever-surprising Leslie Uggams charted the passing trends of “Anything Goes,” Norm Lewis and Jordan Donica each lusciously baritoned their way into A New Brain and My Fair Lady, and the cast of Falsettos (Christian Borle, Stephanie J. Block, Andrew Rannells, Anthony Rosenthal, Tracie Thoms, Brandon Uranowitz, and Betsy Wolfe) offered comic relief with “The Baseball Game.” Victoria Clark and Kelli O’Hara re-earned their respective Tonys with songs from The Light in the Piazza and The King and I.
Following the performance, more than half the guests walked over to the David H. Koch Theater for a seated dinner capped with André Bishop’s favorite lemon tart. But by then, Vicki, Kelli, and I were (separately) heading downtown for Ring Them Bells: A Birthday Celebration for John Kander—a tribute to one half of the genre-defining songwriting duo (with Fred Ebb) behind Chicago, so many Liza Minnelli triumphs, and the city’s unofficial anthem, “(Theme from) New York, New York.”
Hosted by Alan Cumming—whose role in Cabaret first brought his Scottish talents stateside in 1998—the sold-out concert reunited the original Six Merry Murderesses of the long-running Chicago revival (they of “pop, six, squish” fame, all of whom still have it) for the “Cell Block Tango,” and four of the original Scottsboro Boys. Brief video interviews with Kander added insight into his career and creative process, lending artistic weight to the evening’s rollicking song and dance.
There are few things more terrifying for a newcomer than entering a hallowed Broadway composer’s star-studded birthday concert and party. But Jennifer Lopez—who stars in the upcoming film adaptation of Kiss of the Spider Woman (in a role originated by Chita Rivera, no less)—tore through its title song in a tight, web-inspired gown. She was then warmly welcomed at the high-spirited reception at the nearby Bryant Park Grill, poised to become a community favorite.
Both events were impressively executed monuments to their honorees’ invaluable contributions to Broadway, but the night’s highlight was that unpublished Kander song, so tenderly rendered by Pierce:
The setlist included unforgettable moments like Jinkx Monsoon’s take on “Ring Them Bells,” the original Chicago Merry Murderesses reuniting for “Cell Block Tango,” and Jennifer Lopez’s knockout performance of “Kiss of the Spider Woman.”
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