Eeny, Meenie, Miney…Oh! The Duplex Friday Nights!

There are a lot of choices to pick from on a Friday night, but if you want to hear show tunes sung by the next batch of young Broadway soon-to-be’s and some already-have’s, Mostly Sondheim at the Duplex is a great place to go. But, it’ll take a while until you hear a Sondheim tune, for it’s more like Mostly Jason Robert Brown at the Duplex, for this young hip crowd, with “I’d Give It All for You” right near the top. I was there a few Fridays ago, and after the night was kicked off by the irrepressible Kate Pazakis singing “Holding Out For A Hero,” backed up by “impromptu” harmonies from the regular crowd, what followed was a series of guest singers whose songs, for the most part, were flawless in their delivery, and it would be my guess, usually done as audition numbers by this young group of talented audience members/performers. Many of these songs have been cut from the original shows for one reason or another, making the music for this open mic night unique and fresh. Interestingly enough, in many cases, these songs that were cut are better than the ones that got left in those scores. Guess they just didn’t move the plot along. Every tune, from obvious to obscure, was played beautifully and spot on by Brian Nash, who has an unending wealth of music right off the top of his head, and right on the tips of his fingers. It was 12:15am when the first Sondheim tune, “Losing My Mind,” appeared, sung by Billy, who was referred to as a “damn” working actor. At one point, Brian stated “we’ll get back to the singing later but first,” before interjecting lots of great banter, chock full of juicy backstage stories, all done with a sly grin and a wink. Brian is a brilliant and extremely entertaining pianist/host, whose observations about the “biz” and comments like “you haven’t heard Miss Saigon until you’ve heard it in Japanese,” keep the night sharp, intelligent and witty. His description of working with Ellen Greene in A Broadway Diva Christmas was only topped by his hilarious imitation of her actual performance piece, “Silent Night.” Now, I saw that performance by Ms. Greene, and his was better. Co-hosting this night with Kate Pazakis, was Toss Buonopane, who holds the sign up sheet for dear life and “recently played the role of a 17 year old retarded boy on ‘Law & Order’.” And yes, this is the guy from Spelling Bee. Todd adds an element of comedy to the night in handfuls, but in a subtle and wry way. The night I stopped by, was the first night that XL Star 2 Emily McNamara joined the team, and she just put it over the top. Her “Suddenly Seymour,” during which she channels Ellen Greene, even though she is still alive, brought roars from the crowd. Now, as a matter of full disclosure, I’ve got to be honest, Emily and I worked together in a former life, but she is one of the best new all around gifted performers on this whole scene. She made my night with her rendition of a well known, piano bar circuit classic called, “Pour Me A Man,” written by Fred Barton, a long time member of the cabaret community and a member of the creative team that launched the original Forbidden Broadway.

At this open mic, the focus was really on the guest performers in the audience. It was like a frat house full of musical comedy aficionados, and I was never happier to be the oldest person in the room. Mostly Sondheim at the Duplex Friday’s @ 11pm. No Cover. The Duplex, 61 Christopher Street @ 7^th Ave.

Kudos to Owners Bill Morgan & Tony DeCicco and Thomas Honeck the Duplex booker for the spiffy new look of this room.