Lights down at Feinstein’s/54 Below. An announcer is heard: “Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome….DREW GASPARINI!”….and Zack Zadek took the stage. Huh?! Mid parody song about Drew, the same announcer gave an emphatic “NEXT” and once again proclaimed, ““Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome….DREW GASPARINI!”….and Noel Carey took the stage. Now we get it! His “audition” for the role of Drew was abruptly stopped by the very same “NEXT”…and then Julia Mattison took the stage. Sadly, not even she booked the role of Drew.
To the crowd’s delight, after she was “NEXT”-ed, the REAL Drew Gasparini took to the keys and began the evening’s set with an upbeat, charming tune, “Hello, My Name Is Drew.”
For his 8th show at 54 Below, Drew put a twist on the evening’s musical cocktail…a personal twist! Flipping the lens on himself, he gave us an intimate self-portrait: “If I had a diary…this would be it,” he shared.
And while that cold open was silly schtick reveling in musically teasing THE Drew Gasparini (.com), what it brilliantly adumbrated was that although the songs were seemingly by and about Drew, they were also about us. We were connected to and in the stories, invested in the relationships, the humor and the pain.
Let’s Drink To That: The Music and Lyrics of Drew Gasparini– a portrait of the human condition told through 16 songs about the Gasparini family and Drew’s ever-growing NYC family of friends. It was a party. And everyone was invited.
Drew and his incredible cast of musicians and singers were raw, honest, and soaring song after song. Through laughter and tears, the show brought us all on an emotional ride akin to watching your favorite movie growing up– joy, nostalgia, comfort, and kinship all in one place.
Drew opened with a tribute to the recent passing of composer Michael Friedman, an incredible loss to the musical theatre community and a clear personal loss to Drew himself.
Raise a glass. Let’s drink to that.
Every song that followed was based on true events and stories from Drew’s life.
Jeremy Morse performed “Danny & Andrew,” a song of brotherly love traversing almost 30 years of the relationship between Drew and big brother Danny. Alex Brightman wowed with “Mom Could Play Guitar,” a sweet portrait of the formation of the Gasparini musical legacy and the gift of music from mother to child. At the end of the evening, Drew and his sisters Kasie and Chloe Gasparini brought the house down as their band, Saint Adeline, performing folk-pop originals written for their father and covers of childhood favorites like Paul Simon’s “Graceland.” Fam bam, thank you ma’am, let’s drink to that.
Another element in the air that evening was the date. Yes, September 11th in New York City. As you can surmise, Drew is not an artist to let that go unacknowledged. Because it’s real. It’s on our mind. And we should express it. Through an emotional duet covering “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” with Louis Sacco, Drew left the piano for the first time that night to sing and pay tribute. The duo (known as Louis and Drew) have such cosmic blend that it’s hard to tell which voice belongs to whom.
The songs that really hit it home were the “Drew Point of View” tunes like “The Thing I Like the Most About New York” performed by Andrew Kober with an acerbic wit and directness about the disgusting and singular things that horrify and delight while living in the city. Keith White prefaced “I’ll Stick Around” with a spoken word performance that illuminated the heart of the song about the internal battles and emotional demons we face. But perhaps the most “classic” Drew number was Colton Ryan’s performance of “When I Go,” a pop-rock anthem celebrating legacy, artistry, and being authentically and joyfully yourself.
To host a great party, one must be gracious, connected, and enthusiastic. With that being the case, Drew’s gotta be the host of the year, and I encourage you to boogie down at any and all of his parties. With shows as Drew Gasparini, Saint Adeline, and Louis and Drew coming up this fall, there are many chances to connect with this music. But on this night, we were all family.