Doug Carpenter and Jessica Keenan Wynn
“Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better”
Sterling’s Upstairs at Vitello’s is a place musical theatre performers come to try out their skills in a different area, primarily the supper club although some cabaret also work here. Sterling’s is also a place to come and learn about putting on your own concert. Some succeed wildly whereas others seem to fall flat. Doug Carpenter and Jessica Keenan Wynn put on a show last May 30th entitled “Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better”, utilizing the song title from Annie Get Your Gun. Now both these sings have fantastic voices. I saw them together in Life Could Be A Dream, which is still running but sans these two singers. They will rejoin the show for a run at the Laguna Playhouse than perhaps. New York. Both are trained singers and Doug also sings opera so you can get the idea of the quality of their voices. Well, for me, their act fell very short of being fully satisfying.
The reason I found this show lacking is the fact that they felt compelled to place their show in the context of a feud between the two singers. Only Keely Smith and Louie Prima got away with this, now tired, convention; we see it in almost every sitcom. But Keely Smith didn’t talk and their act was balanced between his jazzy songs and her ballads. I suppose it is natural for performers who traditionally do book musicals to try and come up with a scenario, or mini-play, in which to perform. Problem is that, supper clubs are about just getting up and singing, not talking. The two performers kept commenting on each other’s songs and, frankly, it got annoying, mainly because, in their case, I just wanted to hear them sing.
What they did sing was great although, as much as I would like to see Doug play in Carousal, the long monologue song, “Soliloquy”, about the character’s expectations about being a father, don’t really belong in a nightclub. They sang lots of good stuff though like duets “People Will Say We’re in Love”, “Unchained Melody”, and "If I Loved You” were just smashing. Carpenter was outstanding singing Kerrigan and Lowdermilk’s “Run Away With Me”. Wynn sang a lovely “Never Neverland” by Scott Allan, and “Song That Goes Like This” from Spamalot. The couple has good chemistry, are handsome and charismatic and I would like to see them in a solo show as well. Carpenter and Wynn performed at Sterling’s Upstairs at Vitello’s on May 30 and are expected back soon.