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Quality Hill Playhouse opened its season of American Lyricists Series this month with the works of Sammy Cahn, the lyricist whose songs you know, but whose name you can’t always quite remember.  “I’ll Walk Alone,” “It’s Been a Long, Long Time,” “Three Coins in the Fountain,” “Ain’t That a Kick in the Head,” and, of course, “I’ve Heard That Song Before.”  Are they coming back to you?  Some of the most familiar entries in the American Songbook came from the pen of Sammy Cahn working with the great composers like Jimmy Van Heusen, Saul Chaplin, and Jule Styne.  But Cahn as lyricist sometimes fades into the background even though he racked up nearly thirty Academy Award nominations for Best Song.

Rightfully however, J. Kent Barnhart and the singers at Quality Hill Playhouse are putting him front and center this season with their revue of some obscure and some well-known lyrics of Sammy Cahn. Joining Barnhart for this show are three familiar Quality Hill singers:  Julie O’Rourke, Julie Shaw, and James Wright. With Ken Remmert on drums and Brian Wilson playing bass, Barnhart lead the audience through what has become Quality Hill Playhouse’s familiar and well-loved format of musical revue.   

At the center, as always, is Barnhart, founder of Quality Hill Productions, now in its 15^th year.  Barnhart’s skill at interacting with an audience is matched only by his skill at the piano, especially notable in the jazz arrangements and vocal harmonies he favors that work so well here. With Remmert and Wilson behind him, Barnhart rocked the small Playhouse space with “(If I had) Rhythm in My Nursery Rhymes” and “Rhythm is our Business.” 

Those great vocal harmonies were on display in the first set of songs that included the kicky Andrews Sisters tune “Bei mir bist du schön,” with Barnhart, Julie O’Rourke and Julie Shaw. O’Rouke did a smooth and lovely delivery of “It’s Magic” and Shaw’s soulful “I’ll Walk Alone” captured the exquisite pathos of this World War II ballad.  James Wright displayed the breadth of his dedication to a vocal line with the beautiful “Time After Time” but was equally adept at the ultra-cool Sinatra sound of “Ain’t That a Kick in the Head.”

One of the most satisfying elements of a Barnhart revue is the commitment of his singers and musicians to the core of each and every song. Each is different, each has an emotional or a theatrical content carefully plumbed and presented to the audience. Nowhere is this more evident than in their response to Cahn’s lyrics.  Sometimes it is pathos:  Julie Shaw’s “Call Me Irresponsible” nearly rips your heart out.  Sometimes it’s a wink and a nudge in Shaw and Wright’s duet “We Never Talk Much.” Sometimes it is the sweet melancholy of longing that O’Rourke taps so well as she leads the rest of the cast in the ubiquitous “Three Coins in the Fountain.” Whatever they touch, they pledge a fidelity to the lyrics, to the music, and to the performance.  Audiences come to hear beautiful playing and lovely voices, but they really care only about the reality of the performers’ commitment to the song. That’s what brings them back time and again to Quality Hill Playhouse.

REVIEW:
Come Fly With Me:  The Lyrics of Sammy Cahn
Runs September 17 through October 17 (Reviewed Saturday, October 2, 2010)
Quality Hill Playhouse
10th and Central
Kansas City, MO
http://www.qualityhillplayhouse.com/

By Sarah Young

Classical and Musical Theatre Contributor

Sarah Young is a freelance writer and performer in opera, theatre, choral and musical theatre. She has been seen locally with Wichita Grand Opera, Kansas City Symphony Chorus, Kansas City Civic Opera, Lawrence Community Theatre, Chestnut Fine Arts Center and in other local venues.  She studied voice at the University of Kansas, and has been trained in artist programs at Indiana University, Aspen Opera Theatre and the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria.