Stage and film star Kelli O’Hara makes her McCarter debut; Versatile concert with classic and contemporary performance tunes

KELLI O’HARA: Stage and film star Kelli O’Hara (above) performed on November 13 at McCarter’s Matthews Theater, marking her debut there. For the concert, which included a selection of performance arias and standards, the Tony Award winner was accompanied by a quartet of instrumentalists. (Photo courtesy of the McCarter Theater)

By Donald H. Sanborn III

SStage and film star Kelli O’Hara performed at McCarter’s Matthews Theater last Saturday night. The concert featured a selection of tunes from classical and contemporary shows, as well as a few independent songs, which had special meaning for the winner of the Tony and Drama League Award.

His on-stage credits include numerous Broadway musical roles, as well as performances by the Metropolitan Opera in The Merry Widow and Cosi fan tutte. Screen credits include web series The accidental wolf, Netflix 13 reasons why, and HBO to come Golden age.

O’Hara made his McCarter debut with the November 13 concert. However, one of the musicians who accompanied him – percussionist Gene Lewin – is an alumnus of Princeton University and its Triangle Club.

Dan Lipton was the music director and pianist. Guitarist Justin Goldner and bassist Alex Eckhardt completed the well-balanced quartet.

The first two selections were both from musicals by composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II. The opening number was “I Have Dreamed” by The king and me. For her portrayal of Anna Leonowens in the 2015 Broadway revival, O’Hara won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical.

In the series, “I Have Dreamed” is a duet sung by characters other than Anna. This concept – O’Hara singing songs written for characters other than the one she played – was a recurring theme of the concert. O’Hara let the song’s opening be introspective, almost understated, giving the performance a crescendo room – both in volume and intensity.

O’Hara’s character sang “A Cockeyed Optimist” from South Pacific. On the show, US Navy Nurse Nellie Forbush, played by O’Hara in the 2008 revival, sings a cheerful and challenging number. O’Hara said she had stopped singing the song for a while, to avoid over-performing it, but added significantly that she put it back in her repertoire last year.

The ballad “Without a Song” has music by Vincent Youmans and lyrics by Billy Rose and Edward Eliscu. Published in 1929, it was included in the musical Beautiful day.

“What more do I need?” Produces a sudden change of mood. Written by Stephen Sondheim for the musical Saturday night, the song is an energetic and ironic ode to New York City.

O’Hara paused to recount part of his biography. Born and raised in Oklahoma, she attended Oklahoma City University (where she studied voice with Florence Birdwell, who had previously taught Kristin Chenoweth). After participating in the nationwide tour and Broadway production of Jekyll & Hyde, and the relaunch in 2001 of Follies, O’Hara is originally the role of Susan in Sweet smell of success (2002).

Sweet smell of success had music by Marvin Hamlisch (the late composer of A choir line), lyrics by Craig Carnelia and book by John Guare. O’Hara revealed that when she auditioned, the pianist took a lunch break, so Hamlisch accompanied O’Hara himself. Not recognizing the composer’s face, O’Hara abruptly asked him to play at a faster tempo.

This anecdote led to a melancholy rendition of “This is how I say goodbye,” a placid ballad that was cut from the series. Relatively short musical phrases gradually evolve into a middle section in which the phrases and melodic scale extend.

In 2005, O’Hara starred as Clara in the Broadway production of The Light in the Piazza, have played another character (Franca) in the trials. The songs in the show are by Adam Guettel (grandson of Richard Rodgers), with a book by Craig Lucas.

Sung by Clara, the passionate,
The rising tune title song is responsible for credibly leading Clara’s mother, Margaret, to put aside her deep concerns about Clara’s impending marriage. O’Hara makes the most of the poetic number which is alternately strophic and unpredictable, modest and provocative.

At O’Hara’s suggestion, Guettel and Lucas collaborate on an adaptation of Wine and Rose Days. From this ongoing musical, O’Hara sang “There Go I”. This is the first number sung by Kristin (played by Lee Remick in the 1962 film).

For “So in Love”, a passionate ballad written by Cole Porter for Kiss me, kate, O’Hara made exquisite use of vibrato in an almost lyrical delivery, while filling every line of the lyrics with emotion. O’Hara played the dual roles of actress Lilli Vanessi and the show character in the Katharine show in The Musical Revival in 2019.

O’Hara paid tribute to two recently deceased artists: Marin Mazzie, who had performed in the previous cover (1999) of Kiss me, kate in 1999; and Rebecca Luker, whose credits include the origin of Lily’s role in The secret garden.

“Not Funny” is by Michael Heitzman and Ilene Reid, and sung for the first time by Luker and Sally Wilfert. The spirited novelty song gave O’Hara plenty of leeway to showcase her acting skills. It satirizes a perception that characters played by sopranos are less fun than those played by lower voices. What allows music to support humor so effectively is that it abruptly jumps to a series of high notes after opening into a lower (more conversational) range.

Two selections explored a sub-theme of songs performed by male characters in a show. The first was a jazzy take on the elated title song by She loves Me (music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick). The song appears on O’Hara’s 2011 album Always like “He Loves Me”, and gives the singer the latitude for wordless and playful vocal exclamations. This was followed by an introspective ballad by Rodgers and Hammerstein South Pacific, “This was almost mine; Arranged by Lipton.

Then come two independent songs from different eras. Written in 1931 by Gerald Marks and Seymour Simons, “All of Me” was popularized by Frank Sinatra. This was followed by “The Sun Went Out”, an aerial song in a country idiom, in which Lipton sang with O’Hara. Music and lyrics are by Greg Naughton – O’Hara’s husband – a singer-songwriter and founding member of a band, The Sweet Remains.

In 2014, O’Hara premiered the role of Francesca in the Broadway production of Madison County Bridges (whose songs are by Jason Robert Brown). O’Hara performed the show’s opening number, “To Build a Home,” a fast-paced waltz in which Francesca reflects on the farm life she’s lived through for the past 18 years. The accompaniment included crispy drums from Lewin. O’Hara ended the song with his arms outstretched exuberantly.

The (nominal) finale was “Make Someone Happy” from the musical Do Re Mi. O’Hara lets each line ring carefully, while caressing each musical phrase. Do Re Mi to music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. O’Hara shared a touching memory: Comden had wanted to see Light in the Piazza but she was too sick (she died a year after the opening of this show). So O’Hara and a costar visited him in his apartment and performed the score.

After a standing ovation, O’Hara returned on stage for an encore: “I Could Have Danced All Night” by My beautiful lady (lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, music by Frederick Loewe). It was a jubilant coda to an evening of versatile and heartfelt performances that demonstrated why O’Hara is a star.