I don’t think I’m the only person who prefers Broadway’s leading ladies to the leading men. Everybody loves a good diva. The boys typically have to settle for lesser roles. It’s like Hollywood gone backwards. But if there’s one male performer who I find consistently as exciting as the big voiced grandes dames of the stage, it’s Raul Esparza. I remember seeing him in Company and actually thinking, Holy shit. Men’s voices can be amazing!
It doesn’t hurt that Esparza’s an exceptional actor (who really should have beaten David Hyde Pierce for that Tony…). Or that he gave the most crazily honest interview ever a few years ago to the Times. Or that he radiates a charming neuroses and seems always to have a little kernel of sadness about him. It makes it seem like he’s always striving, always needing. And what can I say? I find that absurdly appealing.
So I went to the Allen Room for Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series to see his concert. Before talking about that, let me just say that everything should be performed there. It’s a relatively intimate space with a stage set against two –story windows overlooking Central Park and Columbus Circle. It was beauuuuutiful.
As for the concert, it was beauuuuutiful. No, seriously, he has the greatest voice on earth. The show was about half Cuban music and half show tunes. He explained that he wanted to do a night of all international music but worried that folks wouldn’t like it, so her threw in some numbers from shows he’s been in: Company; Taboo; tick…tick…BOOM. He even did a ridiculously wonderful cover of The Beatles’ “Something.”
It was an incredible night. Whether dancing it up for his take on Celia Cruz’ “Quimbara” or nailing every ounce of pathos (it’s his special gift) in “Petrified” from the Boy George musical Taboo, he was in impeccable voice and seemed to be having a lot of fun with the crowd. There were still notes of that slight keening desire to be liked and to live up to the standards of others. Which is what, to me, puts him in line with performers like Patti LuPone or (yeah, I’m going there) Judy Garland.
This exchange between my friend and I on the way out pretty much summarizes exactly how we felt about the show:
Her: I’m gonna marry that man.
Me: Me too.
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