New York Times by Stephen Holden
March 8, 2000
Finishing the Act: Sugar and Schmaltz, Rumba to Waltz
It takes a certain courage for a singer to admit on the stage that he had his first musical epiphany hearing "Climb Ev'ry Mountain," that corny old warhorse from The Sound of Music. But Craig Rubano, the Broadway baritone whose life was changed in that blinding moment of discovery, conveys the humorous self-awareness of a Broadway baby who understands that confessing the slightly embarrassing truth can be a way into an audience's heart.
Although Mr. Rubano, who played Marius for two years in the production of Les Misérables, has a large, flowery voice that seems tailor-made for such semi-operatic songs, he is no starchy formalist. And in his exceptionally well-conceived cabaret show, Finishing the Act: Act One Finales from Broadway, he finds fresh, personal approaches to some of the most daunting first-act closing numbers in Broadway musical history.
His rumba-powered bilingual (English and Spanish) version of "The Impossible Dream" takes this signature ballad from Man of La Mancha off its pedestal and substitutes sensuality for grandeur. "Before the Parade Passes By" (from Hello, Dolly! is wedded to the little-known Richard Rodgers-Stephen Sondheim ballad "Take the Moment" (from Do I Hear a Waltz?) to offer dual messages about living in the present.
"Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)" (from The Roar of the Greasepaint — The Smell of the Crowd) joined with "(I Am) My Own Best Friend" (from Chicago) make a double-whammy statement about self-reliance.
For sheer comedy there's a medley of dream-ballet fragments delivered as a name-that-tune guessing game. For high drama there's a version of an obscure gem, "There's Always One You Can't Forget," a Charles Strouse-Alan Jay Lerner ballad that's a real heartbreaker."
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