May 4–11, 2000
critic pick|theater
James Naughton
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It’s a peculiarity of American musical theater that virtually all its legendary performers — Ethel Merman, Mary Martin, Bernadette Peters, et al — are female. Another oddity: These women tend to embody extreme character types (Merman the gorgon, Peters the kewpie doll, Martin the — shall we say — tomboy), rather than more conventional romantic leads.
It sometimes seems as though there’s no room in a Broadway musical for a legend who is male and a plausible romantic lead.
Case in point: James Naughton. Naughton is a musical theater veteran with the credentials to prove it — Tony Awards for City of Angels in 1990 and Chicago in 1997, critical plaudits for these and other performances. He’s also a non-musical actor of stature, appearing regularly on stage, in film and on television. Yet audiences wouldn’t be likely to think of Naughton in a short list of our great stars.
Perhaps that’s why he has turned to the world of cabaret (another rare move for musical theater stars), where his virtues may be more readily recognized. It certainly seems to be working: Street of Dreams, Naughton’s evening of song, has been heralded by critics across the country as among the best examples of nightclub performance in years.
In an industry where excess is often a hallmark (think of Mandy Patinkin in his sweaty T-shirt, chewing and vibrating a song into a bloody pulp), Naughton’s signature is restraint. Strikingly handsome, impeccably dressed, Naughton actually sings a song: a rarer thing in musicals and cabaret than you might imagine. His baritone is a lean instrument but a lovely one, and he makes every word count. Whether performing country and western (Hank Snow’s "I’ve Been Everywhere") or contemporary pop (Randy Newman’s "Real Emotional Girl") Naughton invests the material with an actor’s sense of character. His musical tastes are wide-ranging, and he may be best of all in the classics that dot the program, including Billy Strayhorn’s "Lush Life," one of the greatest of all American songs. Here Naughton just might remind you of Sinatra — minus the ego.
Street of Dreams, Prince Music Theater, 1412 Chestnut St., May 10-21, $40 and $46, 215-569-9700.
