Craig Rubano


Napa Valley Register by L. Pierce Carson
Thursday, December 4, 2003
Finishing the Act
The Plush Room

Rubano delivers glorious tribute to Broadway musicals in cabaret show

A childhood attraction to Broadway musicals prompted Craig Rubano to seek a career on the Great White Way. A unique fascination with the Act One finales of blockbuster shows finds him in cabarets from coast to coast today Finishing the Act. That's the title of his salute to Broadway, a delightful, engaging entertainment.

A handsome, witty young man with robust baritone, Rubano knows his craft. He has researched the subject matter as one might working on a doctorate degree. He's called on friends in the business to provide fresh, glorious arrangements, then shaped his fascination into a truly inventive show. There's glorious music, backstage tidbits and witty repartee — who could ask for more?

From singing with The Whiffenpoofs while an undergrad at Yale to starring on Broadway as Marius in Les Misérables, Rubano's accomplished quite a bit for a young man who came to his calling only after college graduation. He's also starred in the Broadway production of The Scarlet Pimpernel, been featured on TV soaps and cast in modern opera. His current show earned him several well-deserved awards in New York last year.

Save for "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables," a passionate ballad from Les Misérables, all of the material in Rubano's program did indeed bring the curtain down on the first acts of a dozen Broadway shows.

Since he first saw Man of La Mancha while a student in Lima, Peru, Rubano offers "The Impossible Dream" in both Spanish and English.

Rubano also introduces many in the crowd to the only show that saw Richard Rodgers write both music and lyrics, No Strings. The Act One curtain of this 1962 musical closed on a haunting love song, "Nobody Told Me," which Rubano does with tenderness and appealing sensuality.

Showing off the entertainer's glorious baritone, "Sunday," from Stephen Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George, is one of the show's high points. It demonstrates why Rubano is in demand along Schubert Alley and Broadway. Finishing the Act is as satisfying as any Broadway show.