James Debut on Broadway

Forum member Carolb's review of James debut:- "Now the hardest job of all, trying to put in to words and describe to you James debut performance on his Birthday 6 April 2005. To be honest there are no words to describe it so I am so glad that all of you already know how absolutely brilliant James is when he sits at a piano and just how awesome he can be when he sings the songs of his idol Billy Joel, because to have to try and explain that to someone who doesn't would be an even more scary prospect. You also know me too and just knowing that I the 'Wordmaster' is struggling for words in itself must give you some clue, but believe me, you need to multiply your expectations from that several folds to even come close to painting yourselves the picture of what James did on that stage. Well first of all, from the moment the curtain went up for It's Still Rock and Roll to me, to when it came down after New York State of Mind, I barely took my eyes off of James sat there at his black grand piano some 10ft above the stage. He was mesmerising, not only his voice and his piano playing, but his expressions, his emotion his interpretation of the music he was playing. There were a few classical numbers which were played on a track so James gets a break during these I tried to focus on the dancers, but even then it was difficult, the rest of the time they could have had David Brent and Pans People on that stage and I doubt I would have noticed, which is a shame as there is amazing talent in the cast and not to watch them is criminal really. James sits sideways centre stage, wearing black trousers and a black short sleeved shirt, his familiar silver bracelet and ring glinting in the lights as his arms and hands worked their magic on the keyboard. We have all seen him perform the BJ ballads many times before, we know how well he can do that already, Just the Way You Are, She's Got a Way, they were beautifully performed, his familiar tones giving you all those shivery moments we have come to expect pretty much every time he opens his mouth, but with the band playing along side him, together they take the whole thing to another level. Scenes From An Italian Restaurant was the 2nd song, one we know makes him a little scared when he gets to the complicated piano breaks, but he did it to perfection of course setting the standard from the start of what was to come, pure class! Just the Way You Are, no buskers version here just a faultless and emotional version that had me sat there (you all know what the song means to me already) gazing at him adoringly, probably with a far away look in my eyes. Next was Longest Time which quickly switches in to Uptown Girl, forget Westlife, this was something else he was flying and the audience were with him. Next This Night, I had this on an album months ago, but when J did it at Jury's he brought the song to life for me, he did again here it very much has a 50's feel about it. Summer Highland Falls, again a lesser known BJ song but one that James has injected with that certain something that makes it special and will always now make it a James song. For the next song, We Didn't Start the Fire, they had lowered a slatted backdrop down to depict the war scene in front of J and the band. One of the gaps allowed you to see James at mouth level which was just as well because it really didn't sound like James on this one and you had to see his mouth moving to believe it. As he belts out the names and events his voice sounds almost raspy (is that a word?) it must really put a strain on his throat. Harry Trueman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnny Ray, South Pacific, Walter Witchell, Jo deMaggio. It has always amazed me how BJ gets the words out, to even remember them must be a challenge in itself, but James does of course, delivering them all brilliantly! I don't know about JFK blown away, I certainly was. What else do I say? Nothing James, the performance so far pretty much says it all really! She's Got a Way was next the raspiness gone and back to the soft and gentle, and take you to Cloud 9 James, I really wish Sharon could have been there, there would have been tears I guarantee it! The first half drew to a close with The Stranger, not a favourite BJ song of mine it must be said but very much more enjoyable here with the JF vocals behind it, then it was the classical Elegy and the curtain came down to loud applause. Act 2 starts with the classical Invention in C Minor, giving James time to get himself settled and focused for Angry Young Man. The words in this are complicated and fast at times but no problem to James, he belted them out pitch perfect just as they were written setting the scene for act 2 to be every bit as mind blowing as Act 1 had been. Big Shot was next, followed by Big Man On Mulberry St, neither of them probably known by the audience unless they were BJ fans, we'd seen J do these at Jury's they were even better here as you would expect, the way he delivers the soft high parts in Big Man just went to prove the wonderful range he has in his voice. Captain Jack followed, I will always remember James sitting at the piano in Fame Academy singing this one, there was no sad far away look in his eyes here, this was delivered with power and passion. There was a raunchy bordelo scene going on down on the stage with scantily clad girls and camp transvestites, but it was hard to give them a token glance really, for me the best of the action was happening up above on the piano. Next Innocent Man, we only got one line at Jury's and I was longing to hear James sing this, it has always been a favourite of mine and J's rendition just made it all the more special. Some of the high parts were sung by the saxophanist in the band, but it was a wonderful interpretation of the song by our 'Piano Man' his voice filling the theatre, so pure and perfect. This led next to Pressure, I don't really know the song and if I'm honest it was my least favorite track of the show, don't get me wrong James performed it brilliantly, of course he did, but I don't think the song does his voice justice, just my opinion, you might think differently. The next 2 songs were a sharp contrast to each other, the first Goodnight Saigon is one that I have always found so graphic and sad as it tells the story of young soldiers going off to war. When seen on the BJ DVD with the video, it is even more moving the pictures bringing home the senselessness of it all, but the scenes on the stage did that here. Yes, even I was drawn to the stage on this one. I was longing to hear James sing this when his role in the show was confirmed and he delivered it way beyond my expectations, it was wonderful beyond words as was the next one, Shameless!! Now we have all seen and heard James do this at Marlows, a beautiful soft ballad but anyone that's familiar with the BJ version will know that it is not the way BJ sings it. Here James does it the BJ way, he was rocking, he was awesome, the breaky thing he does with his voice, the power, the emotion, it had it all, Kath and Helen, I really wish you could have both seen him do this, you'd have been so so proud of him and been blown away by him, this was for me very probably the best song in the whole show in term of delivery and a showcase for James talent and class as a performer. That's from me, the lover of ballads, I think the audience were of the same mind, all his songs got great applause but this one seemed to have that special something that deserved a higher level of appreciation. As I tried to bring myself back down from the high place he had left me, floating over 8th Avenue somewhere between 7th heaven and cloud 9, we were back to the soft tones for 'James' that song with so much special meaning for our J. I love him singing this too, I'm not sure myself if I love it for the song itself or because I know what it means to J and the significance of the 6 April 1976 date, but whatever the reason it was a beautiful song, beautifully sung by our "James'. We were starting to approach the end now, it was all going to be over all too soon but not before yet another knock your socks off and blow you away performance. As he began River of Dreams, it was gentle James but as this moved in to Keeping the Faith we were back to rockin James and boy did he rock that stage. He worked magic on that keyboard and magic on that audience, you aren't supposed to get the shivery moments for the up tempo songs are you? Well he did it for me here, this was a new side to James rockin to BJ's songs we'd not heard before, playing piano in a way we'd not heard before. As he went on in to Only the Good Die Young with more of the same, what can I say but WOW James WOW!!!! Kath you would have loved it!! So how did he come back down and start singing about taking his time so nonchalant in I've Loved These Days, it's beyond me, I was still trying to recover from the last song. The dancers all started to come on to the stage individually to take their bows as the audience were applauding and he was singing the reprise of Scenes from an Italian Restaurant. But as the cast were assembled they lowered the platform to the stage for James to take his bow, the applause level rose dramatically they loved him! He was beaming and very probably a little relieved to have got that first show under his belt, but he looked so proud and so he should he's done a fantastic job up there on that stage and delivered everything we knew he could several fold. He's proved to us time and time again that he is an extremely talented performer with star quality. Tonight he'd shown a Broadway audience in the best possible way giving them a pure James performance with songs that proved his range of voice, his versatility to perform any song you give him, and his brilliant skills on a keyboard. The cast and the band congratulated him on his performance and I and the rest of his UK contingent representing all of you back home, and his mum and brother stood proudly watching our superstar reap the rewards and recognition he has worked so hard for over the last 14 years. It is so richly deserved! After a charity announcement from one of the cast, they did a few bars of New York State of Mind as the platform was raised and the curtain came down, I wish we, and that audience could have heard that whole song. It's hard to think how he could improve on that performance, but knowing James as we do, he'll probably come up with a list of things he's done wrong and tell us all about them, forever the perfectionist. But I guess, it's being the perfectionist that has driven him to where he is now, he's always been his own most critical critic."

James Fox.biz