Theater Review – November 18, 2018

BROADWAY DIVA JESSIE MUELLER DAZZLES IN LOCAL CONCERT

JESSIE MUELLER IN CONCERT
Virginia G. Piper Theater, Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Scottsdale, AZ

The luminescent Broadway star Jessie Mueller gave a dazzling concert November 17 at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts.  Her wonderful song repertory included mostly musical theater gems including a generous selection of hits from her Broadway vehicles – “Beautiful,” “Waitress,” “On A Clear Day You Can See Forever,” “Nice Work If You Can Get It,” and the recent “Carousel” revival.  She also sang some touching renditions of a few pop hits.

She began her career in Chicago where she was born and where she played in productions for years before leaving for New York stardom.  She gave an example from her long Chicago career.  While she hasn’t done any recent “She Loves Me” productions, she essayed the Barbara Cook role in her hometown.  Mueller sang a stunningly limpid and heart-felt “Ice Cream” from that show demonstrating how perfect she would be for a future revival.  She also mentioned that she would like to play Marian in “The Music Man,” another role she hasn’t yet played.

Mueller took over for Kelli O’Hara in “Nice Work If You Can Get It” starring opposite Matthew Broderick in that show that boasted a Gershwin score.  Mueller delivered a charming story with poised host and expert pianist Seth Rudetsky about her experiences with Broderick who loved to have things go wrong and used such moments to add comic frivolity for audiences as he charmingly threw Mueller off during such missteps.  Between the generous selection of songs, Mueller delivered some charming tales with Rudetsky about her career development.  It’s always enlightening to hear about how an artist’s profession develops while delivering cute anecdotes about well known Broadway experiences.

Jessie Mueller’s delightful concert was the first in this season’s series of Broadway star concerts at the Scottsdale Center that will be followed by Sutton Foster, Audra McDonald, and Jeremy Jordan with Rudetsky plus two other concerts featuring Broadway performers Alan Cummings and Lea Salonga.

Jessie Mueller was a dynamic star to begin this year’s Broadway star season scheduled through May 2019.  For tickets to the future shows, call the Scottsdale Center box office at 480-499-8587 or order tickets online at www.scottsdaleperformingarts.org.

Grade: A