San Diego Arts"I Left My Heart: A Salute to the Music of Tony Bennett" at the Welk Resorts Theatre
Billed as "a pleasant journey of great Bennett song hits," the Welk Resorts Theatre's current production of "I Left My Heart: A Salute to the Music of Tony Bennett" can hardly be accused of false advertising. A swift, 80-minute ride through 32 Bennett songs, "I Left My Heart" is a perfectly palatable show for the jazz enthusiast or those with a penchant for "traditional pop" (indeed, Mr. Bennett appears to have created a monopoly on the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album; he has won the award in 10 of the 16 years it has been presented). That it is neither particularly exciting nor exceedingly original seems to be of little importance, for some theatregoers are content with that which is merely "pleasant." Surely, this show seems to have been devised with them in mind.
 (L-R) Damon Kirsche, Justin Gray, Kevin McMahon, Eric Kunze, and Mike Masessa Copyright©2007 Marc Northover Conceived by David Grapes and Todd Olsen, with a scant, practically irrelevant book by Olsen, "I Left My Heart" makes no pretenses about what it is, an unapologetically unremarkable revue featuring the music of one of today's living jazz greats. And, no, it really doesn't get a whole lot more interesting than that. To be sure, it is jam-packed to the gills with songs from the Bennett catalogue, from Gershwin standards like "I Got Rhythm" and "Embraceable You" to more modern arrangements like Bill Evans' "You Must Believe in Spring" and "A Child Is Born." While these are prime Bennett material, purists be forewarned: don't go expecting to hear anything that really sounds like Bennett himself. That's just not the point here, in this tribute to the man Frank Sinatra once called "the greatest singer in the world." Its creators have expressly put forth that "this production is in no way an imitation or impersonation of Mr. Bennett," for "any imitation would fall far short." Perhaps, but then what is to be made of the astonishing "impersonations" taking place eight shows a week in New York at the present moment? John Lloyd Young's Frankie Valli in "Jersey Boys" is nothing if not faithful, and Donna Murphy does a mean Lotte Lenya in "LoveMusik," not to mention Christine Ebersole's Tony-lauded portrayal of those eccentric Edies from East Hampton in "Grey Gardens." Having a talented actor embody the persona of Mr. Bennett could very well make the show more interesting. How interesting a story can one craft from Bennett's personal saga though? A consummate, engaging performer without a doubt, but his life story is simply not quite as dramatic as those of scrappy Frankie, freewheeling Lotte, and those feline-loving Edies. In avoiding the musical bio-drama route, the writers have steered clear of the main problem in "The Dancer's Life," Chita Rivera's most recent show: that is, trying to create drama out of the relatively undramatic personal life of a brilliant performer who happens to be genuinely kind, humble, reliable, and not an alcoholic, a womanizer, a former addict... You get the picture. So forget a "story" and stick to the songs. Got it. But given that none of the 32 songs presented were written by Bennett himself, what really makes a Bennett song unique is the manner in which it is performed -- his one-of-a-kind phrasing and sound. Let it be said that three more glorious voices have scarcely been heard on the Welk stage before, for Damon Kirsche, Eric Kunze, and Kevin McMahon do possess remarkable instruments. Kirsche's interpretation of Cole Porter's "Night and Day" is exquisite, and Kunze's rendition of the little-heard "The Shadow of Your Smile" is breathtaking. McMahon's airy tenor delivers a beautiful styling of Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer's classic "Come Rain or Come Shine." They just don't sound all that much like Bennett, in either phrasing or mere vocal quality, so in the end this "salute" to Tony Bennett comes across as three very talented tenors singing a lot of songs that just happen to have been recorded by Bennett as well. It doesn't help that numbers like "I'm Just a Lucky So and So" and "Crazy Rhythm" were clearly included in the revue to be sung by an African-American singer, for purposes of rhythmic style (even the show poster illustration on the program cover includes an African-American member of the trio). Though these Three Tenors are easy on the eyes as well as the ears, a little more diversity would be appropriate here. Visually, Nick Fouch and Ryan Seybert's sumptuous single-set design is simple, but quite lovely to look at. The bar, the cocktail table, the curtains -- not to mention the performers -- all are lit well by Jennifer Edwards-Northover's attractive lighting design. Unfortunately, the hokey computer-generated graphics projected briefly on the screen during the show's final moments detract from the show's overall classy ambience. Still, with singers as good as these, and a top-notch four-person combo consisting of musical director Justin Gray on piano, Ted Hughart on bass, Mike Masessa on drums, and Jack Houghton on trumpet, it's difficult not to be pleased by this "Salute to the Music of Tony Bennett." Or rather, this "Salute Featuring Music that Tony Bennett Sings, Too."
 Frankie Moran About the author: Frankie Moran is a graduate of the 2008 NEA Arts Journalism Institute in Theater and Musical Theater at USC's Annenberg School of Communication. He was also a Phi Theta Kappa valedictorian at San Diego's own Mesa College and graduated from UCLA's School of Theater, Film, and Television. Frankie got his start in theater criticism writing reviews of Broadway shows during a short stint at Columbia University. Since then, he has written for the North County Times and the Las Cruces Bulletin. More by this author Subscribe to Arts:
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