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Regional Reviews: Phoenix Broadway Night Also see Gil's review of She Loves Me
Ben Hale, who is the program director for the concert hall, is also a gifted vocalist and guitar player. Hale has also appeared in several musicals, including the Las Vegas productions of The Phantom of the Opera and Million Dollar Quartet. He's joined for these concerts by two women who were in Phantom with him, Sarah Elizabeth Combs and Kristen Hertzenberg, along with Carl Draper. All four performers have superb vocal abilities. Their musical theatre background ensures that there is a connection to every lyric in every song they sing, whether they are comical or serious. The repertoire includes such well-known musical theatre selections as "Something's Coming" and "Maria" from West Side Story, "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" from Evita, and "Memory" from Cats. All of these solo songs are delivered with crisp clear vocals by Draper, Hale, Hertzenberg and Combs, respectively. Other solo highlights in the evening include Hale delivering a fantastic version of "Stars" from Les Misérables and Hertzenberg's moving performance of "I Dreamed a Dream" from the same show. Draper shows off his keen tap dance abilities in the Irving Berlin classic, "I Love a Piano," and Hertzenberg's delivery of "They Just Keep Moving the Line" from Smash shows off her impressive belt. Hertzenberg also demonstrates her soaring soprano voice in "You'll Never Walk Alone" from Carousel, and Combs' delivery of "Send in the Clowns" from A Little Night Music gets across the emotion in every Stephen Sondheim lyric. Hale's performance of "Pity the Child" from Chess gives him the chance to show off his crisp voice, with high sustained notes, and Hertzenberg's sultry delivery of "Fever" from Million Dollar Quartet, which she appeared in with Hale, proved to be an audience favorite. There are also many comical numbers, including Combs evoking Marilyn Monroe in "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend," and Combs and Hertzenberg having a lot of fun with "I'm Gonna Wash that Man Right Outa My Hair" from South Pacific. Combs and Draper play off each other very well on the comical "Anything You Can Do" from Annie Get Your Gun, Draper and Hale are appropriately pompous on "Agony" from Into the Woods, and Hertzenberg and Combs channel their inner Elphaba and Galinda for the fun and upbeat "What Is this Feeling?" from Wicked. Other duets include a fantastic delivery of "Lily's Eyes" from The Secret Garden that Draper and Hale absolutely nail, with soaring vocals and beautiful harmonies, and two duets that pair songs from musicals; "I Got the Sun in the Morning" from Annie Get Your Gun and "Not While I'm Around" from Sweeney Todd that Combs and Hertzenberg sing, and a superb pairing of "The Story of Tonight" from Hamilton and "You Will be Found" from Dear Evan Hansen delivered by Hertzenberg and Draper. Both of those pairings feature beautiful blending harmonies. Also, the company's performance of "Edelweiss" from The Sound of Music, which features Hale on guitar, is simply lovely, and the four vocalists, along with music director and pianist Andrew Lederman, sing a lovely a capella version of "Lida Rose" from The Music Man. The entire band is fantastic, with Lederman on piano, Dallin Summers on bass, Brian Bissell on guitar, and Jim Oblon on drums. Since The Phantom of the Opera was the show where three of the four performers met, it's understandable that it is highlighted in this concert, including a wonderful version of Phantom's overture, which opens the second act of this concert. Hertzenberg mentions how the musical was one of the greatest gifts of her life, as the people she worked with became a family and Ben Hale met his future wife who was a dancer in the show. It also offered an opportunity for the original production team to take advantage of modern technology that wasn't present when the original show opened. She spoke about how the 20-foot in diameter chandelier, which she said was stunning, dropped at warp speed at the end of the first act and how the cast would listen backstage for the blood curdling screams of the audience every night. Hertzenberg's delivery of "Think of Me" and Hale and Combs' duet of "All I Ask of You" are both superb. A pair of songs from Man of La Mancha opens and closes the show, with "Man of La Mancha (I, Don Quixote)" receiving a bright and lovely treatment from Hale and Draper, and "The Impossible Dream (The Quest)" ending the show with all four vocalists delivering a moving and soaring take on this beloved song. The Hale concert hall venue is a jewel of a theatre, with excellent sightlines, crisp vocal sound, and even a video screen that projects information on each song as well as close up videos of the singers. It's a fantastic performance venue. Broadway Night runs through May 2, 2026, at Hale Centre Theatre, Hale Concert Hall, 50 W. Page Avenue Gilbert AZ. For tickets and information, please visit www.haletheatrearizona.com or call 480-497-1181 Producers: David & Corrin Dietlein Performers & Band |
