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“Gotta Be This or That”
Metropolitan Room – June 24, 25
From the moment the male quartet Uptown Express took to the Metropolitan Room stage in their matching, fitted, gray sharkskin suits, black shirts and purple ties, there was a sense that one was in for an evening of polished entertainment. Here was a good-looking group of guys who took themselves seriously. Indeed, the group—John DePalma, Christopher Caswell, Brad Parks and Jaymes Hodges—lived up to that expected professionalism in everything they did. The show featured a set list far more diverse than their look. While a few of their choices might have been expected (Beach Boys, Mills Brothers, music from Forever Plaid and even the Andrews Sisters), others were surprisingly refreshing: John Legend, Garth Brooks, The Temptations, and even very recent hits by Katy Perry and Ricky Martin.
This was the group’s first all-new show since the tragic and sudden death last January of one of their members, cabaret veteran David Gurland—a fact that was, perhaps wisely, not alluded to in this performance. While someone as uniquely talented as Gurland is not replaceable, the group went with a whole new look and sound in finding Jaymes Hodges to take the fourth spot. The tall blond, who looks as if he’d stepped out of a toothpaste commercial, brought a Broadway flair in both look and voice, but in a way that added to, rather than detracted from, the whole.
In the lineup, Hodges was placed in the middle with Christopher Caswell (both tall and angular), with the more urban-looking John DePalma and the moon-faced Brad Parks on the ends. I kept looking at Parks, who had either a far-gone look in his eyes or a mischievous smile with an occasional devilish tongue sticking out—suggesting a kind of unpredictability characteristic of Dennis Hopper. Indeed, Parks took the more dangerous vocal solos, with his swooping falsetto making the most of “Morse Code of Love” (Nick Santamaria), made famous by the Capris.
Caswell gave an impassioned and soulful reading of the John Legend anthem “If You’re Out There.” By chance, this was sung just hours before New York’s passage of Marriage Equality: “We’re the generation/We can’t afford to wait/The future started yesterday/And we’re already late.” How refreshing it was that the group let the song speak the message without feeling the need to comment on it or preach politics.
Hodges introduced his solo turn by noting that three of the four members, quite coincidentally, came from Austin, Texas—this put the joke on Jersey’s DePalma. Hodges and the boys hit a home run with the Garth Brook hit “Friends in Low Places” (DeWayne Blackwell, Earl Bud Lee). DePalma, one of the finest male singers on the New York cabaret scene, was perhaps underserved by the rather straightforward “My Life” (Billy Joel)—it left no room for the wondrous, nuanced singing he has brought to his solo shows.
Despite the solo turns, the evening was a group effort, and that is where Uptown Express really strutted its stuff. Even in a limited space, each song offered different, imaginative staging—whether it was synchronized kicks on the Mills Brothers standard “Glowworm” (Paul Lincke, Johnny Mercer), or remaining still as a classic painting on the gorgeous “Blame it on My Youth” (Oscar Levant, Edward Heyman), or the perfectly timed head-bobbing on “Gotta Be This or That” (Sunny Skylar). They always made it look effortless; those of us in the know realize how difficult it is. The group’s version of “God Only Knows” (Brian Wilson, Tony Asher) is, I daresay, better than the Beach Boys original. With their layered harmonies repeating gloriously at the end of the song, it is like angels taking flight toward a cathedral ceiling.
The group saved its big guns for the end of the show. The aforementioned Garth Brooks triumph was immediately followed by “I Can’t Get Next to You” (Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong). It might seem off-limits for four white guys to take on a song made famous by the legendary R&B group The Temptations, but Uptown Express wowed the crowd with their trading vocal lines and sexy, stunning footwork. They never winked at what they were doing or moved into camp—they just presented it, and they were rewarded with a rousing ovation. They kept the energy up with their take on “Teenage Dream” (Katy Perry, Lukasz Gottwald, Max Martin, Benjamin Levin, Bonnie McKee), using the arrangement from Glee, before performing their encore, Ricky Martin’s “The Best Thing About Me is You” (Ricky Martin, Desmond Child, Claudia Brant, Andreas Carlsson, Eric Brazilian).
Kudos go to musical director James Followell, who not only offered occasional anecdotes about the songs, but provided flawless support, with Sean Conly on bass and Dan Gross on drums. Although letting the music speak for itself is always the preferred way to go in an act, for this reviewer, a little more banter among the guys would have been welcome. It was in the few moments in which they did so that we got a peek at the personalities behind that awesome wall of sound.
Kevin Scott Hall performed in cabaret clubs for many years and recorded three CDs, including “New Light Dawning” in 1998, which received national airplay. He also worked at the legendary piano bar, Rose’s Turn, and has taught cabaret workshops and directed shows since 1995. Kevin earned his MFA in Creative Writing at City College of New York. He is an adjunct professor in the Theatre and English departments at City College and Borough of Manhattan Community College. His novel, “Off the Charts!” was published in 2010, and his memoir, “A Quarter Inch from My Heart” (Wisdom Moon), in 2014. Kevin writes a monthly column and entertainment features for Edge Media Network, writes reviews for BistroAwards.com, and freelances for other publications.
