Theater Review – January 30, 2023

BROADWAY’S JESSICA VOSK DAZZLES AT SCOTTSDALE CENTER

JESSICA VOSK: “MY GOLDEN AGE”
Virginia G. Piper Theater, Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Scottsdale AZ

By Chris Curcio
Theater Critic

Broadway star Jessica Vosk dazzled local audiences at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts with her wonderful renditions of musical theater standards plus contemporary pop tunes representing her idol singers, and lots of relaxed chatter about hit shows she’s performed.  Some juicy insider comments hit the spot as she slyly revealed the diabolical chicanery of some Broadway shows.  It was a breezy and delightful evening perfect for musical theater lovers.

Playing Elphaba in “Wicked” first on a 13-month national tour followed by a lengthy Broadway stay are her major claims to success after performing in “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” “Becoming Nancy,” “West Side Story,” and “The Bridges of Madison County” among others before her 2021 solo Carnegie Hall debut.  It’s an impressive list of accomplishments that enabled her local appearance to be such a delight.

She calls her show “My Golden Age” which combined a rich collection of Broadway show classics both old and new with pop tunes from iconic performers like Judy Garland, Carol King, Joni Mitchell, and Taylor Swift, all singers she models.  The local stop was third on a cross-country tour.

She arrived on stage to “Gypsy’s” rousing “Let Me Entertain You” as she sang mightily in a quickly paced 90-minute show.  Her arrangements are jazzy and upbeat created by her exquisite musical director/pianist Mary Mitchell.  A throbbing drummer and backup singer Marissa Rosen who sang a mean “Mr. Preacherman” solo but never overpowered the star.

Vosk describes herself as a “New Jersey Girl” and as a “Weird Broadway Chameleon.”  She told amusing stories culled from revelatory career moments plus some amazing commentary on things that happened during her Broadway shows.  One particularly interesting moment came during the recent “Fiddler on the Roof” Broadway revival when she was in the ensemble and understudied Golde.  At the end of the first act, the Golde performer was knocked out so Vosk went on during the second act and, under his breathe, the actor playing Tevye asked her “who are you”?

She used her expressive voice like the late and great Barbara Cook to tell an emotional story through her singing.  She did a couple of outstanding encores including a triumphant “Don’t Rain on My Parade” from the current Broadway hit revival of “Funny Girl.”  Jessica Vosk is quite an up-and-coming Broadway musical diva and her local concert was a delightful joy.  The next Broadway personality at the Scottsdale Center will be current male “Funny Girl” star Ramin Karimloo with Seth Rudetsky on Friday, February 24.  You can order tickets for Karimloo’s show by calling the Scottsdale Center’s box office at 480-499-8587 or order tickets online at Scottsdale Performing Arts.org.

Grade: A