Hello, all,

Rachel, Kip Wilborn and William Michals, along with guest conductor
Don Pippin, put on a wonderful show with the Eastern CT Symphony
Orchestra on Saturday. It was very cold in the theater, but the stars
heated things up pretty quickly. :-)

We all know how versatile Rachel is, and she got to show off her
belt, her comedy, and her glorious soprano all in one show. Kip is an
opera star with a beautiful, strong tenor, and William has a very
rich baritone. They blended together very well.

They began with a trio of Give My Regards to Broadway, then each got
to show off with a solo. Kip sang With a Song in My Heart, Rachel did
a knockout Don't Rain on My Parade, then William crooned Taking a
Chance on Love. They all came back together for a really fun Anything
You Can Do, with Rachel going through the rafters as the one who
could sing higher, and Kip and William holding a note for an eternity
as they tried to prove who could sing longer. William won! The
orchestra gave the singers a break by doing an instrumental of Orange
Blossom Special, then William came back with The Impossible Dream,
Kip followed with an operatic piece (sorry, don't know what it was),
and they all closed Act I with a tribute to Richard Rodgers.

Act II opened with a fun Be Our Guest with all three of them singing
in French accents. Cute. I could just picture Rachel as the feather
duster. :-)

Then the three launched into powerful solos again. William did a very
moving If I Can't Love Her from Beauty and the Beast that got the
audience cheering. Then Kip came out and said, "Oh, great, I have to
follow that?" And he proceeded to deliver a fantastic Being Alive. I
was sitting there thinking, "What on Earth can Rachel possibly do to
top that?!" Well, she did, with a hilarious and incredible Diva's
Lament from Spamalot. The audience roared!

Then they did a trio of Under the Sea, and Rachel improvised some
calypso dancing around the two guys. Adorable. The orchestra took
over for another instrumental of the theme from Beauty and the Beast,
then Kip sang a magnificent rendition of Nessun Dorma from Turandot.
Hints of Pavarotti were in the air. Sigh. Rachel came back with Back
to Before (I just love her version of that song), and William
finished with Music of the Night from Phantom. Rachel and Kip joined
him for the last few bars. They got a standing O, then came back on
for an encore, Circle of Life. Another standing O followed.

It's funny. Troughout the show the men were sort of all about their
voices, singing somewhat seriously like big male divas. And then
there's Rachel - this incredible spark plug who injected real life
into the proceedings all the while matching the guys' vocal chops
note for note. After the show the crowds were swarming around her in
the lobby. All three were signing autographs and chatting, but people
really seemed to linger more with her. You look at Rachel's fans'
faces when she talks with them, and they simply glow with joy.

In parting, here are a couple of reviews of the show. Enjoy!

http://boston.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=23461

http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=a4f19850-ecda-49ac-98fe-c5609a052bce

lc