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ON THE RECORD: Melina Mercouri as Illya Darling and Steven Pasquale's "Somethin' Like Love"
By Steven Suskin
12 Apr 2009
Steven Pasquale: Somethin' Like Love [PS Classics PS-975]
Steven Pasquale, currently co-starring in the Broadway production of Neil LaBute's reasons to be pretty as a loutish, chauvinistic, vicious ruffian, does not seem the sort you'd want to invite to sing for you with a small jazz combo. Appearances, though, can be deceiving; this is the same Pasquale whose voice made a memorable impression on the handful of people who saw A Man of No Importance at Lincoln Center back in 2002. Playing the small role of the hero's unsuspecting friend, Pasquale and the equally little-known Jessica Molaskey set their voices soaring as a pair of forbidden lovers in an otherwise earthbound affair. And in 2003, Pasquale played the role of Fabrizio in the regional tryout of The Light in the Piazza, missing out on Broadway due to a prior TV commitment (to the series "Rescue Me"). Which is to say, the fellow is at heart a musical theatre actor who can sing.
So it should come as no surprise to at least some listeners to find Pasquale, the tough currently terrorizing the stage of the Lyceum, giving us a wonderfully jazzy debut album. That same Ms. Molaskey — along with her husband, the dizzyingly accomplished and omnipresent John Pizzarelli — not only encouraged Pasquale but produced his album as well. They even wrote a song for him, "Somethin' Like Love," which pretty much holds its own among the triple-mint standards of the songlist. Mr. Pizz. is also present with his merry band (Larry Fuller, Martin Pizzarelli, Tony Tedesco, Marcus Parsley, Tony Monte), which makes Pasquale's "Somethin' Like Love" sound something like the usual Pizzarelli-Molaskey CD. Which is a high compliment.
The song selection is telling. Three of the 12 items come from the pen of Mr. Loesser, including two relatively lesser-known Hollywood songs ; two come from Gershwin's piano bench. Pasquale gives us some unexpected choices — neither "Summertime" nor "If I Were a Bell" would spring to mind — but everything sounds interesting and pleasing. Irving Berlin's "Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep," a song that I've never found to be of more than passing interest, is thoroughly arresting in Pasquale's hands (with a major assist from John P.).
Pasquale has a sweet baritone that whispers or soars at will; Pizzarelli, in his liner notes, compares him to Chet Baker, Bing Crosby and Johnny Hartman — and Pizzarelli should know. He also complains that he finds the combination of youth, good looks and talent in his wife's former stage-lover to be vulgar and annoying. For his part, Pasquale sees fit to include a wonderfully smoky "Laura," presumably as a salute to his Tony Award-winning, musical comedy-star wife. In an act of restraint, neither Ms. Benanti nor Ms. Molaskey have been invited to sit in for a track or three. While those two are always more than welcome in my book, Mr. Pasquale does just fine on his own.
(Steven Suskin is author of "The Sound of Broadway Music: A Book of Orchestrators and Orchestrations" as well as "Second Act Trouble," "Show Tunes" and the "Opening Night on Broadway" books. He can be reached at Ssuskin@aol.com)
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