Review: A Grand Night for Singing

It’s hard to fault the Fair Oaks Theatre Festival production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein songbook musical A Grand Night for Singing. During a recent production there were some sound issues and some errant lighting cues that detracted somewhat from an otherwise exhilarating production. A live band provided fine accompaniment.

Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II contributed many classic musicals over the decades, including Oklahoma!, Carousel, The King and I, and South Pacific, among many others. This revue includes songs from each of those as well as tunes from such lesser known musicals as Allegro, Me and Juliet, and Pipe Dream.

Deane Calvin, so assured on stage, seems to nail it every time. Torch song or ballad or as part of a trio (with Brittni Proffitt and Leah Frazier) performing “I’m Going to Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair,” she is excellent. Jonathan Blum and Zane Boyer, both singularly and together, are outstanding. They possess strong, supple baritones that do justice to everything from “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’” to “We Kiss in a Shadow” and “My Little Girl.” There’s humor in the production, too, frequently provided by Joe Hart and Corey Winfield via “Stepsisters’ Lament” from Cinderella, for example.