Scott Bakula: Who Knew?

[kittenscribble]

neonnova's parents, who do some ushering at local theaters, acquired tickets to a program called "An Evening with Scott Bakula." Apparently Bakula was going to sing some cabaret songs. We met up with paleotheist, who seemed rather intrigued by the idea as well, and headed down to DC last night in the ice and slush. We made it with time to spare and even managed to stop by Les Halles for dinner (we ate off the restaurant week menu and it was fantastic).

Bakula was actually quite good -- sang a bunch of medleys of American musicals, adopting a bunch of different voices and physical attitudes. He was all over the stage, and the patter was hilarious. The title of this post came from his list of rejected names for the show, when he mentioned that he still ran into people who didn't know that he could sing as well as act. (People like me.)

The songs were interspersed with details of his personal history, from his childhood roles in local shows to his time off-Broadway in New York, then to a Tony nomination for his role in a musical, which got him an invite to try out for Quantum Leap... he even worked in a reference to William Shatner at one point. The singing was great. The rapper-dance-mix version of "Climb Every Mountain" was particularly hilarious; I'll have to scour the internets and see if someone has a recording.

The second half of the show didn't quite measure up to the first half -- more singing, less patter -- but overall it was a lot more fun than I anticipated. I'm glad we went. If you haven't anything to do tonight, see if Ford's Theater has any tickets to spare; it's a fun evening.

Comments

[pictsy.livejournal.com]

I was wondering about that since I saw your and neonnova's statuses on Facebook this morning. :)

[kittenscribble.livejournal.com]

Yes, we were both very impressed! :D

[necrocannibal.livejournal.com]

ooh! you got to meet Count Bakula! Was there any mention of "the Lord of Illusions"? Maybe an explanation?

I kid -- he seems like a nice person I guess.

[kittenscribble.livejournal.com]

Google is the answer to all of my pop culture ignorance. That Lord of Illusions business seems like quality entertainment.

But no, Bakula made absolutely no mention of his acting career aside from the two major TV shows. I think he was trying to emphasize his musical roots.