All good things must end, and so it is with Boston Gay Men’s Chorus’ (BGMC) entertaining “Celebrity Spotlight” series. It’s going out in high style, however, thanks to the thrilling theatrics of Laura Benanti, the featured performer in the series finale that drops this Thursday, Oct. 22. The episode’s timing couldn’t be better, though, coming just one day before Benanti’s self-titled debut studio album is released.
Like the album, which features Benanti’s interpretations of tunes by pop artists like Burt Bachrach, Selena Gomez, and Rufus Wainwright alongside chestnuts by legendary composers and lyricists including Betty Comden, Michel Legrand, and Jule Styne, Benanti’s 2015 special guest performance with BGMC showcased the Tony-winner’s crystalline soprano and musical comedy chops. And “Celebrity Spotlight” viewers get to relive every heart-swelling note, well-timed joke, and witty anecdote.
The episode captures Benanti’s glorious performances of “I’m Glad I’m Not Young Anymore” from “Gigi,” “I Have Dreamed” and “I Could Have Danced All Night” from “The King and I;” “A Quiet Thing” from “Flora The Red Menace,” an uproarious medley of pop hits, and the climactic “Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” from “The Sound of Music.” The fact that BGMC has never before released any of this material makes this appointment viewing for Benanti’s legion of fans. The magic starts at 7 p.m. on bgmc.org and www.youtube.com/BGMC1982
We sat down with “Celebrity Spotlight” hosts Reuben Reynolds, BGMC’s music director, and Bill Casey, the chorus’ executive producer, to discuss the episode and what it was like to share the stage with Benanti.
Q: Laura Benanti is so talented and seemingly everywhere—Broadway, TV, social media, she even co-authored a parenting book, M is for MAMA (and also Merlot): A Modern Mom’s ABCs. Then there’s her Melania impersonation. Was it at all intimidating to work with someone that creative and accomplished?
RR: Not at all. Laura has a history with gay choruses that she’s talked about, including in “Smile,” the concert she performed with us. Her uncle Robert Wonneberger was an original member of the Washington, D.C. Gay Men’s Chorus and that’s the first gay chorus she sang with. This was back in 2002 and they did a concert that featured the music of Stephen Sondheim and Oscar Hammerstein. Of course, it included songs from the “The Sound of Music” and in one number, Laura sang the part of Maria, and Robert performed the role of Mother Abbess—in drag.
BC: Unfortunately, he died unexpectedly shortly after that concert, and she has talked about how wonderful it was to be on stage with her uncle shortly before he died.
Q: That’s so sad. That was pretty early in her career. It’s nice that she had that moment onstage with Robert and the chorus, though.
BC: Yeah. She has since performed with the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus and then with BGMC. She does these performances as a way to honor her uncle.
Q: That’s really beautiful.
BC: It is, and we really enjoyed singing with her. Laura is what we call a “leading lady soprano,” like Julie Andrews and Kristin Chenoweth and Audra McDonald. There’s nothing they can’t sing, so we knew working with her was going to be a lot of fun.
RR: One of the pieces that she did on the concert was called “Brotherhood of Man” from “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.” The song is about the fraternity of businessmen—it’s all the men at the office building, all the young associates, but then a soprano shows up out of nowhere at the end, in the form of the character Miss Jones. So when we staged the number at Symphony Hall, our guys did a huge dance number and then all of a sudden they split and there was Laura. And she just took off singing. It was just beautiful.
Q: I’m sure she made it look easy, too. What else from her performance sticks with you?
RR: She sang “A Quiet Thing,” a Kander & Ebb tune from “Flora The Red Menace.” It’s very intimate. We didn’t know how this would work on the recording, but she went over and she put her mic down and sat on the edge of the stage. Now, Symphony Hall has glorious acoustics but even without her mic, her voice was crystal clear and so moving in that hall. It was a stunning experience.
Q: So, she sang to the hall with no amplifier? Wow.
BC: Yeah. She sounded fantastic. But there was a funny moment because she missed her mark—the X-marked spot onstage where she was supposed to stand for that particular song. But she missed it and wasn’t in her light, she was kind of sitting in the dark for a second, until she realized, like “Whoops! I’d better move.”
Q: It’s nice to know that even Laura Benanti misses a mark every now and then. There’s hope for the rest of us!
BC: Right? She was winging it in terms of stage banter, so it was very informal. So she just flopped down at the end of the stage and she was like three feet off of her line. And then she realizes, “Oh, I’m not sitting where I’m supposed to be sitting.”
Q: My hunch is that the song was much more memorable than the gaffe.
RC: Yes, it did not kill her career. We actually went to see her sing on Broadway maybe two years after she sang with us. Bill called her and we were going to get together afterwards.
BC: We had our niece with us, and Laura was supposed to take us backstage.
Q: Your niece must have been so excited, no?
RR: Well as it turned out we couldn’t meet afterwards because she had just found out she was pregnant and was having horrible morning sickness.
Q: Oh man.
BC: I know. She was so sweet about it, though. She said, “I’m so sorry. I wanted to meet your niece but I don’t feel really good right now.”
RR: But now she has a wonderful daughter, so there you go.
BC: Yes, and hopefully she’ll be watching her mom on “Celebrity Spotlight” on Thursday, with all the rest of us.
Watch Celebrity Spotlight featuring Laura Benanti on Thursday, October 22 at 7 p.m., on the Chorus’s website and YouTube channel.