Mendel Sings it Out

When I was stuck in New York, I had the pleasure of seeing 2 Broadway shows and a taping of Live! with Kelly, all of which were lovely in their own ways.  However, the real reason I was in New York was to see Brandon Uranowitz in his very first show at Feinsteins @ 54 Below.  And I have to admit, I've never been so happy to see a solo performance in all my life!  I had the very best time, and left having the biggest smile on my face.  He definitely made me a very happy girl!

A few months ago, Brandon - who played Mendel in the Falsettos production I keep gushing about - announced he'd be doing a few shows at Feinsteins and that this would be the very first time he'd ever done something like this.  Because I loved him in Falsettos, I bought the ticket immediately.  Also, I knew from some digging that famous friends sometimes show up un-announced as special guests, and I had hoped that this would be the case.  Then a few weeks ago, he announced that Stephanie J. Block would be joining him for one night only - and somehow I got lucky, that it was the night I'd be there. Woohoo!

Even though I was excited about the show, I was still a bit nervous.  I don't really like going to events like these alone.  Making awkward small talk with the person you've been seated with is just odd.  But again, I got lucky and was seated with 2 other theater-nerds that were there by themselves as well.  We spent the hour leading up to the show gushing about our love for Broadway and specifically Falsettos.  If that wasn't enough, we were graced with the presence of Andrew Rannells and Christian Borle who were there to cheer on Brandon and Stephanie.  I must admit, I got a little tongue-tied at that point, and had to make a serious effort to not continuously stare at their table - which was about 10 feet away!!! (I was so good at trying not to embarrass myself that I missed the chance to sneak a smile at Andrew when I heard his voice as he was heading to the men's room and I was heading to the ladies...Why can't I be not me for like 30 seconds?!)  This seems to happen a lot at 54 Below, and if I lived in the city, I think I'd go broke just hanging out to see who I could spot going in.

The best pic I could snap of Rannells and Borle...

Anyway, enough about my crush on cute Broadway stars, it was finally time for the show to start. And here's where I gush.  If he hadn't said that this was his first time doing something like this, I would have thought he'd been performing like this for years.  He was unbelievable!  He was funny and sweet.  He told hilarious stories about himself and his life, while singing the beautiful music of Bill Finn.  He shared the stage with Stephanie J. Block, his partner and another friend, and sang gorgeously with all 3.  He was gracious to his friends in the audience that came, as well as everyone else that was there to see him.  To put it simply, he was absolutely fabulous! He represented the music well and also was able to throw a lot of himself into the show, which is always a trait of a great performer.

In the end, I left thinking  that all I want to do is sit down and have lunch with this amazing man. And I hope that he realizes just how well he performed, because if he never does this again, I'll be super sad but super happy I got to see him at least once.