Philip Fortenberry’s “Broadway, My Way”

by Megan Edwards

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Philip Fortenberry on stage at the
Clark County Library on November 22. 2009
Photo by Mark Sedenquist

Let me begin by saying I have never attended a piano recital that made me weep. This one did, twice. Whoever once described Phillip Fortenberry as having “fabulous flying fingers” forgot to add a few more words to capture the emotion this pianist manages to evoke in his audience. Mine weren’t the only moist eyes at the Clark County Library last Sunday. I also wasn’t the only audience member to leap to my feet while the last note was still hanging in the air. In fact, if I had stayed seated, I would have been unique. Philip Fortenberry’s “Broadway, My Way” was one of those concerts, the kind you never forget.

A piano positioned on an oriental carpet dominated the stage. It was surrounded by posters on easels and stands, each from a different Broadway show. “Les Miserables,” “Ragtime,” Cats,” and “Cabaret” were there, along with “Cleavage,” “Thou Shalt Not,” and “Side Show.” I was still wondering about the productions I was unfamiliar with when the house lights dimmed, the stage lights came up, and Philip Fortenberry strode on stage.

Without a word, he sat down at the piano. From the moment his fingers hit the ivory, we were in his world. Fortenberry surrounded us with his music, his talent, and his personal journey.

“I can’t sing. I can’t dance. I can’t act,” he said after he played “Jellicle Ball” from “Cats,” “But I can play the piano.”

As Fortenberry “let his fingers do the dancing,” the screen behind his piano displayed posters from the corresponding musicals. Fortenberry filled the theater with numbers from “Oliver,” “Irene,” and “The Robber Bridegroom,” pausing in between to tell the story of how he was seduced into the world of theater and moved from a Mississippi childhood to a career in New York City.

Fortenberry recalled his experiences with a Broadway show called “Cleavage.” Advertised as “a titillating new musical comedy,” the production opened and closed the same night. But even though the show was, as Fortenberry put it, “a bust,” it had great music. To prove it, Fortenberry played a beautiful duet called “Only Love” from the show.

“Side Show,” which told the story of conjoined twins, gave Fortenberry his first experience as part of a cast recording for an original Broadway show. He played three numbers from the musical, and then told the story of his audition for “Saturday Night Fever.”

“Actors audition,” Fortenberry said, but musicians are usually hired on the basis of their reputations. “Saturday Night Fever,” however, required an audition. Fortenberry had to sight read “A Fifth of Beethoven.” If nothing else, he said before playing the piece, it proved the value of a classical education.

Fortenberry’s years in New York brought him into contact with a number of world-renowned artists. He related how he helped Madonna prepare for her role in the movie version of “Evita” and played “You Must Love Me” and “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina.”

Recalling his work with Andrew Lloyd Webber, Fortenberry played numbers from “The Phantom of the Opera,” “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat,” and “Jesus Christ Superstar.” He followed up with numbers from “Ragtime,” “Seussical the Musical,” and Harry Connick, Jr.’s “Thou Shalt Not.”

“I lived on the upper west side,” Fortenberry said, going on to describe the day he was enjoying his morning cup of coffee when the news reached him about two jets and the World Trade Center. The world changed on September 11th, 2001, he said, “but New York is resilient. The Broadway community rallied.” Performers and musicians took cutbacks. They worked for free. “I learned,” Fortenberry said, “the true meaning of ‘the show must go on.’”

Once again, Fortenberry turned to his piano. As he played a plaintive arrangement of “Give My Regards to Broadway,” the screen behind him displayed scenes from the Great White Way. Then the twin towers appeared—as they used to be. The photograph had been taken at night, which made it all the more poignant because of all the lighted windows. Would it have been possible to look at those living buildings and stay dry-eyed while Philip Fortenberry’s moving rendition of “Give My Regards to Broadway” filled the room? Not for me. Not for many.

Fortenberry didn’t strand us in the desolation of 9/11, though. His next numbers were from “Mamma Mia,” a show that, he said, helped Broadway recover. He followed them with a tribute to Burt Bacharach and the show based on his songs called “The Look of Love.”

Before launching into his finale, Fortenberry shared a bit of his philosophy about performing, crediting his piano teacher Miyoko Lotto with helping him find his way. “You have to play the music that wants to come through you as only you can,” he said.

Fortenberry’s grand finale was a fantastic (and fabulously full of flying fingers) tribute to Rodgers and Hammerstein. Songs from “The Sound of Music,” “Oklahoma,” “South Pacific,” “The King and I,” and “Carousel” filled that library theater as I doubt it’s ever been filled before. When it was over—or actually, when the last chord was still hanging in the air, the audience leapt to its feet like an army unit. Really, we had no choice. Somewhere between “Where is Love?” and “Bali Hai,” the piano player had seized control.

But wait. There was more. When the applause finally died down (which took a really long time), Fortenberry sat down to play an encore. Well, okay. We had demanded it, but how was he going to top what he had already done? I couldn’t imagine.

Philip Fortenberry's new CD, 'Broadway, My Way'

Once again, the fabulous fingers flew. Once again, the mesmerizing music filled the hall. It took me a few seconds to recognize the tune. Then—oh, yeah! “A Chorus Line.” The song was “What I Did For Love.” If you’d been there, you would have been rummaging for a tissue, too.

It wouldn’t be fair for me to write about this show if the “fabulous flying fingers of Philip Fortenberry” weren’t within earshot of every Las Vegas resident. Fortunately, they are. You can hear Fortenberry play in the Cabaret Showroom at the Liberace Museum on an ongoing basis, and he is the associate music director of Jersey Boys. If a performance in Las Vegas is out of your reach, or if you’d like to enjoy those fabulous flying fingers whenever you wish, you’re still in luck. Fortenberry’s Sunday concert was a kickoff for his new CD, “Broadway, My Way,” soon to be available through Fortenberry’s Web site. I’m listening to it as I write this, and I am once again transported.

Click here for an interview with Philip Fortenberry on Vegas Talk Radio.

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