One advantage of outdoor musical events is being outdoors on a warm summer’s evening.
No matter how light the attire worn, the week of July 9 through 15 occasioned the use of a jacket only once, when in former years even the warmest evening of the hottest day required a jacket-plus at night, whether at Starlight or the Summer Pops venue at Embarcadero Marina Park South.
July 14 ” not the jacket night ” was spent at the Pops, where the program was “Broadway Now.” The evening required more than a bit of program reshuffling due to the illness of soprano Christine Noll.
Her replacement, Broadway star Ann Runolfsson, was an audience favorite in such selections as “Nothing” (Morales’ anthem in “A Chorus Line) and “Think of Me” from “Phantom of the Opera,” in which she struck and held a perfectly beautiful high C.
Extremely easy on the ears, SummerPops and Broadway veteran Doug LaBrecque remarked it was the longest high C in Pops history, and that may well be true.
LaBrecque was beloved for his rendition of “Bring Him Home” from “Les Miserables” and “This Is the Moment” from “Jekyll and Hyde.”
Possessor of a heavier voice, returning Pops veteran Debbie Gravitte wowed with “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” from “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “Memory” from “Cats.”
The three conspired on several medleys, including “Jersey Boys” and “A Chorus Line” and finishing up with an odd but not unpleasant arrangement of songs from “Sweeney Todd.”
Tonight (7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 20) the Pops presents Howard Shore’s “Lord of the Rings” Symphony featuring conductor Marcus Bosch, vocalist Kaitlyn Lusk, the San Diego Master Chorale and St. Paul’s Cathedral Choristers.
Friday and Saturday, Matthew Garbutt conducts music by Maurice Ravel, Tan Dun and Igor Stravinsky to accompany the return of The Peking Acrobats.
For tickets and information, visit www.sandiegosymphony.org or call (619) 235-0804.
July 15 ” the jacket night ” occasioned a visit to Starlight Musical Theatre’s Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, “Jesus Christ Superstar,” which features the extraordinary talents of Keith A. Bearden as Judas, Brian Michael Purcell as Jesus, Brian Crum as Simon, Leviticus as Caiaphas, and Paul Kruse as Herod.
Christia Mantzke sang the role of Mary Magdalene, displaying a hard-edged, mostly unpleasant belt voice. Her singing of “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” lacked warmth due to the fact that pianissimo singing is quite beyond her at this point in her career. Perhaps it was the end of a long week.
Bearden is quite simply the best Judas ever heard live, and I’ve heard plenty of them. Clarity of text is his prime concern and his accuracy of pitch and depth of character are exemplary.
Purcell’s voice is also admirable, but in this staging, directed by artistic director Brian Wells and David Brannen (who also choreographs), he is emotionally remote ” even granted that the exhausted Christ is letting go of life at this point.
Nonetheless, the book ” which many consider blasphemous because of its musical-style parodies and sarcasm ” is affecting and musically excellent under Parmer Fuller’s baton.
Another weekend of “Jesus Christ Superstar” remains, 8 p.m. tonight through Sunday, Starlight Bowl, Balboa Park (off Presidents Way at Park Boulevard).
For tickets and information, visit www.starlighttheatre.org or call (619) 544-STAR.