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Too little M.F. singing and too much cutsie stuff with guests. I came to hear M.F. sing those beautiful ballads he records and came away with a huge disappointment. Not worth the time, energy or money for me.
Michael Feinstein hosted this mess -- supposedly saluting the Great American Songbook but instead tripping all over itself with TV theme songs, "Brazil" and other nonsense. Guest stars sang two songs each, except for Feinstein fave Cheyenne Jackson, who's already recorded a CD with Feinstein. Florence Henderson actually wasted the L.A. Philharmonic and the venue itself by literally singing the Brady Brunch theme song. Dick Van Dyke was fun, but Wayne Brady was a talent totally wasted, with just two songs and no duet with Feinstein. Played like a failed TV pilot for "Michael and Friends." Note to Feinstein -- this is the Good-God-Almighty Hollywood Bowl, treat it with some thought and respect, and don't waste our time with this mediocre drivel!
If the concert hadn't been at Hollywood Bowl it wouldn't have been quite so special. It was cute at best.
Michael Feinstein is a marvelous performer and his encyclopedic knowledge of the American Songbook music, composers, and performers is invaluable -- and it is what we expected him to draw on at the Hollywood Bowl. Instead, we got very little of the Songbook and a lot of wasted time. He - or whoever drew up the program - underestimated the audience members, thinking that they would rather see old T.V. clips and listen to patter about "what a wonderful evening this is" and "how great [insert name] is" than actually see quality performances of the great standards. Feinstein introduced Florence Henderson as "Richard Rogers's favorite singer", but she didn't sing anything by Rogers - all we got was a schlock version of "Side by Side" written by Harry Woods. Worse - and directly insulting - was having to sit through a sing-along of the Brady Bunch theme song. Dick Van Dyke was little better: one song from Mary Poppins would have been enough. His first words were that he wasn't going to do music from the Song Book. What a waste. Cheyenne Jackson has a magnificent voice - what a shame it wasn't used to deliver some of the classic standards. Wayne Brady came closest with "You Send Me", but that's still a marginal selection. For all of Feinstein's talk about the Great American Song Book, we had an evening without anything from the Gershwins, Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer, Rogers & Hart, Hoagy Carmichael, Harry Warren, Harold Arlen or others of that calibre. We got one song from Irving Berlin and one from Jerome Kern/Dorothy Fields. The night was beautiful, the Bowl is a great venue, the talent was prodigious, and all but a small fraction of those wonderful resources were squandered on pap. The program began marvelously with Feinstein's rendition of "The Way You Look Tonight", but went downhill from there. Irving Berlin's "I Love a Piano" right before intermission raised hopes that the second act would be better, but it wasn't. Closing with "New York, New York" was enjoyable, but hardly a top tier work. Overall, the show was a true disappointment. Feinstein should know better, or at least insist that those who work with and for him know better if he wasn't the one who designed the program.
I'm a Michael Feinstein fan and I always enjoy his shows. Having the other performers there were like icing on the cake. Michael Feinstein was his usual enthusiastic and smooth self, wonderful voice and song selection. Florence Henderson was perky and fun with the Brady Bunch national anthem! Cheyanne Jackson was awsome and what a voice he has. Wayne Brady was entertaining with his jokes and songs. Dick Van Dyke was outstanding singing songs he made so famous from Broadway and movies. The down side of the show was that everyone's performance was abbreviated (you hated to see them end their part of the show). It also seemed many of the audience wanted to be the first to leave the parking lot so as a result there was no encore which would have been delightful since everyone came back out on stage.
I love the Hollywood Bowl and its always a good time! So, I enjoyed myself at this concert as I always enjoy myself at the HB. However, this concert didn't exactly blow my mind - the music was just a little before my time - but not like the Beatles or Classical Music - but in a way that there is a good reason that we don't play these songs anymore or hear about them. Anyway, there were a couple of good songs in there, but most were like I just flipped on the TV to some 1940's musical. HB is always good time though!
Great evening, and Michael was perfection...Adding his TV star friends was very enjoyable, and added to the show. I love his renditions of the 30's, 40's, Very nostalgic and romantic.
