The intimate space of 54 Below, known as “Broadway’s living room,” provided the perfect up-close and personal setting for the warm connections, funny background stories, and amazing vocal prowess of Laura and Linda Benanti in their mother-daughter cabaret concert Mothers Know Best. But those expecting to hear two generations of Benanti women got a delightful surprise; seven-year-old Ella, Laura’s daughter, also took to the stage for a lovable pre-show duet with her friend Alexis on “Into the Unknown” from the Disney film Frozen II and proved that talent and charm really do run in the family (as well as in Ella’s melodious singing partner).
After a brief pause, headliners Laura (Tony-winning star of twelve Broadway productions, with numerous screen credits that include the recent 2023 film No Hard Feelings and the HBO series The Gilded Age) and her mom Linda (who performed in many popular shows Off-Broadway, on national tours, and regionally, then opened a vocal studio in her hometown of Kinnelon, NJ, where she teaches everyone from local students to Broadway stars) brought their rich soprano voices, emotional expressiveness, and engaging humor to a set list of ten meaningful songs and medleys, followed by an enthusiastically requested encore.
Accompanied by a live four-piece band (Steve Dohle on bass, Ann Klein on guitar, Daniel Glass on drums, and music director Billy Stritch on piano), the pair, dressed in sleek black with accents of glittering silver, began with a personalized rendition of the 1955 hit “Que Sera, Sera” (“What Will Be, Will Be”), in which the lyrics were hilariously changed to reflect the nagging uneasiness and uncertainties of life in our current world, and Laura injected comical nods and head shakes to the questions posed (“Will I be pretty, will I be rich?”). The two then delivered alternating solos on a selection of numbers with special significance to their lives and careers, including 20th-century favorites, songs from the Broadway musicals in which Laura appeared, and original tunes she wrote, all filled with feeling and laughs, soaring high notes and extended long notes, starting with Linda’s dreamy medley of “The Shadow of Your Smile/I Had a Dream about You.”
Interspersed between the numbers were their entertaining direct-address introductions and candid commentary on the narrative content of the songs, why each particular selection was chosen, and the impact it had on them. Among the most memorable were the “funny and fearless” Laura’s rendition of “Wives and Lovers” by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, preceded by her vivid account of the sexual harassment she encountered from a producer as an eighteen-year-old auditioning for her first Broadway role in the 1998 revival of The Sound of Music (along with her mother’s strange, but successful, advice on how to escape it without suffering future repercussions); Linda’s heartfelt performance of “New Words” by Maury Yeston, which inspired memories of both her adult daughters and their families consecutively staying with her for much longer than expected during the height of the COVID pandemic, but allowing her precious time she wouldn’t have otherwise had with her young grandchildren; Laura’s touching tribute to the late Chita Rivera with Yeston’s “Unusual Way” from NINE (in which they both starred), paying homage to her graciousness, generosity, and support when Benanti was recuperating from a painful broken neck (the song ended unexpectedly on the date I attended with an improv moment of her rolling on the floor in laughter when a tray of glasses at the supper club came loudly crashing down, then getting up again to finish the final note); and Linda’s spot-on mid-century stylings on the Judy Garland classic “The Man That Got Away,” which, in her youth, she saw the legendary star perform live in concert at DC’s Armory and tried to gift her with what she considered to be a very valuable token of her esteem (but actually wasn’t and didn’t go exactly as planned).
There was also Laura’s madcap “My Fair Lady in 15 Minutes,” singing the iconic songs (with a little help from Stritch), adopting the Cockney and refined British accents of her character Eliza Doolittle (which she played in the 2018-19 revival at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater), delivering the plot points of the story in record speed from her own feminist perspective, and recounting her no-holds-barred response to the annoying comment made by a man in Florida; the women’s duet on “Recovering Ingenue” written by Laura with Todd Almond, enhanced with wildly flashing lights and Stritch providing a mood-setting vocal bit; and captivating renditions of the romantic show tunes “Vanilla Ice Cream” from She Loves Me and “One More Kiss” from Stephen Sondheim’s Follies.
The highly entertaining and masterful show concluded with the encore “I’m Gonna Miss This,” a sweet and poignant original by Laura Benanti and Ann Klein about familial relationships, the passage of time, and memories held dear (and by extension, of the concert and the fans in attendance). If you missed the opening performance on Sunday evening, you still have two more chances to experience the exquisite voices, personal stories, humorous repartee, distinctive personalities, mutual respect and pride, and loving bond of the immensely talented and tremendously appealing Laura and Linda Benanti in Mother Knows Best at 54 Below, so get your tickets now before they sell out.
Running Time: Approximately 75 minutes, without intermission.
Laura and Linda Benanti: Mothers Know Best plays through July 24, 2024, at 7 pm (doors open at 5:30), at 54 Below, 254 West 54th Street, cellar, NYC. For tickets (priced at $29-100.50, including fees), go online.
