Beyond Broadway: A Celebration of Love in Song with Lauren Kennedy and Alan Campbell, is a sizzling evening of music — all performed with panache by the couple-next-door who just happen to be critically-acclaimed Broadway/Film and Television stars. This husband-and-wife team prove themselves equally adept with showstoppers from Broadway, standards from the great American songbook, swing numbers, country classics and goodtime, old-fashioned rock ‘n’ roll!
Ever since Kennedy burst on the Broadway scene in Sunset Boulevard (she was in the ensemble and stood by as Betty), she's seldom been unoccupied--she stood by as Daisy Hilton in Side Show and drew tears as Fantine in the closing cast of Les Miserables. One of her best-known roles was inThe Last Five Years; she originated the role of the vulnerable Cathy in the Chicago premiere of the show. She has nothing but praise for Jason Robert Brown: "I think he's the most talented human being on the earth! His music speaks to me, and I think my work with him has made me a better artist." While she calls The Last Five Years "one of the greatest experiences of my career," Kennedy withdrew from the New York production (the role would go to Sherie René Scott) to headline Trevor Nunn's high-profile London staging of South Pacific, but frequently performs in concert with Brown and has even devoted her solo CD to his songs. As for South Pacific, the relative unknown met the challenge of carrying a big-budget show in another country with aplomb: "I went over there to learn something, and I really did it. It was a beautiful time for me, and Trevor was so supportive."
Zelda Fitzgerald is probably Kennedy's meatiest role yet. A vivacious flapper who struggled with mental illness and creative envy (she was an artist, writer, and dancer), Zelda is hardly the average ingenue role. Kennedy, who calls the icon "fascinating and complex," did a good amount of research, but spiked it with imagination: "Because the show doesn't follow their lives so strictly, I still wanted to capture what made her tick." Kennedy says of Zelda, "I find it so interesting that she was an early pioneer for independent women, but was also stuck in some traditional Southern roles." Kennedy says that was able to find much common ground with Zelda--aside from the mental instability.
Campbell, who has performed in everything from theatre to commercials to a rock band, has also played one or two characters with a dark side. He received a 1995 Tony nomination for originating the role of jaded screenwriter Joe Gillis in Sunset Boulevard. He said of the show, "It was certainly a life-changing experience." To do the show, Campbell (who had started in musicals) flew to New York from L.A., where he had been acting in films and on the series "Jake and the Fatman." "It took me ten years to get back to theatre," he says. "Brian Stokes Mitchell was also on a TV series at around the same time, and singing at charities events, we'd laugh and swear that some day we'd get back to musicals." He feels lucky to have landed steady TV work early in his career and enjoys working in both mediums, but says that "there is nothing like a live audience--the combined feeling of elation and being physically spent--that comes from working hard in the theatre."
Campbell played Joe for much of Sunset's run, and played opposite such diverse Norma Desmonds as Glenn Close, Betty Buckley, Elaine Paige and standby Karen Mason. "I loved working with each and every one, and the show was completely different for me with each." He went from divas to dancing as the replacement for Boyd Gaines in Contact. At first, he did the show on the road--which necessitated director Susan Stroman's restaging the show for proscenium stages. "That went a long way to make it feel like I had a stake in it," stated Campbell, who loved Gaines' performance but wanted to make the role of a suicidal advertising executive his own by the time he joined the Broadway cast. While not about to join the Bolshoi, Campbell says that he was a "good mover" going into the show.
While he primarily focuses his energies on the role of Riley's father these days, Campbell still loves to perform and says of his former goal of doing a Broadway musical: "I am so happy that I was given a chance to fulfill that dream and can continue to work and enjoy our wonderful Broadway community." Both he and Kennedy will most likely be able say that for a long time to come.
"Alan Campbell is a strong stage presence and he tears into the title song as if it were an indictment of movieland.... (He) is a big, forceful singer."
-NY Times
"Campbell sings very well and performs with commitment and conviction. He carries the show's largest role beautifully."
-Theater Week
"...A sensational actor/singer who goes up against Glenn Close every night and holds his own."
-NY Post
"... a charismatic golden boy with a voice to match."
-The Wall St. Journal
"Alan Campbell is terrific..."
-Variety
"Alan Campbell is effective and touching... "
-The Salt Lake Tribune
"Campbell is a subtle actor who makes us look where he's looking, rather than at him."
-St. Louis Dispatch
"...desperate, charming and convincing..."
-NY Post
"Lauren Kennedy gives a star-making performance ... her singing rings out as clear as a fingernail on a crystal champagne glass. She is intoxicating in her range."
-New Jersey Star Ledger
"I'm in love with a wonderful girl and her name is Lauren Kennedy. She dazzles you with her looks and her cockeyed optimism."
-Daily Express/London
"Lauren Kennedy's joy and intoxicating spirit and her gift for uneasy silences is a thing of rare beauty... Kennedy has the remarkable range the score demands, sliding easily from gentle ballad to highpowered rock."
-CitySearch.com
"I daresay that many who witnessed Kennedy's performance will have occasion to say, in future times, that they saw her sing Evita in 1993, before she was the star she will be."
-Durham Herald-Sun
"Kennedy glitters and grinds through the honky-tonk saloon number... gives each song its full weight with her lustrous voice and dramatic presence."
-San Francisco Chronicle
"...exquisite ability to blend pop vocal and Broadway traditions."
-American Theatre Web
"Kennedy is a joy to listen to, singing with beauty, power and heart."
-Amazon.com
"Audiences and critics love Lauren & Alan: Campbell is a great foil for Kennedy ...This couple's combined Broadway experience translates into bang-up, class A entertainment!"
-The News and Observer
".From the bravura opening number to their charming encore, Campbell & Kennedy have personality plus and know how to project it."
-TheClassicalVoice.com
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