
Ben Vereen
I happen to work in Bristol, PA. My coworker told me she saw Ben Vereen the other day, so I said, “How was his show?” She replied, “No. I mean I SAW Ben Vereen!” Turns out the performer was standing on the sidewalk in Bristol, talking on his cell phone. My coworker proceeded to turn her car around, pulled up and greeted Vereen. Smiling from ear to ear, she said he was extremely cordial. It made her day.
Bristol often gets a bad rap, sometimes deservingly so (there was a stabbing in the parking lot of my office building last week) and sometimes not (the Bristol Riverside Theatre – BRT – is one of Buck’s County’s best-kept secrets).
Today Bristol redeemed itself by bringing Broadway star Ben Vereen to town. BRT! OMG! Vereen’s one-man show, “Steppin’ Out Live with Ben Vereen,” was incredible.
Vereen is the consummate performer, and he’s no youngster. At 65, he’s got more stamina than many sofa-sitting-video game-playing kids I know. He not only belted out the songs, but managed a bit of choreography here and there. He’s still got the moves.
His one-man show is the warm-up act to what will become a Broadway show, “The Last of the Showmen.” There’s already a documentary about the performer with a similar title: “Ben Vereen: Last of the Showmen.”
I was one of the youngest members of the audience, so I feel it’s my duty to share a little about this amazing performer with those of you who may not know his work…
As its name implies, the show pays homage to some of the greatest male performers of all time – Frank Sinatra (he paved the way for many African-American performers), Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr. (Vereen’s mentor). For those of you who only know the Brat Pack (Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy), this talented trio – along with Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop – was known as the Rat Pack.
The show was a retrospective of Vereen’s career, and he added his own endearing brand of humor throughout. His story included references to television – “The Ed Sullivan Show” (where The Beatles made their U.S. debut), The Michael Douglas Show, and the Ted Mack Amateur Hour (think of “American Idol” for the Boomer generation). In tribute to a Philadelphia legend, he also remembered Dick Clark. He joked about telegrams, records, record players, cassette players and phone booths with dial telephones. (Visit your nearest museum for details.)
Vereen has a long list of credits to his name. On stage, he appeared in “Sweet Charity” (cast by the renowned Bob Fosse), “Hair,” “Jesus Christ Superstar,” “Chicago” and “Wicked,” to name a few. He received an Emmy nomination for his role in the TV miniseries “Roots.” His film roles include “Funny Lady” and “All That Jazz” (about the legendary Fosse).
During his show, which went well over its allotted 90 minutes, Vereen sang songs from many of his Broadway roles. His band was talented, too: Nelson Kole, conductor/keyboard player, drummer Marc Dicciani, bassist Tom Kennedy, and percussionist Aaron Vereen (yes, that’s his son). Aaron accompanied his dad on the bongo for the coolest version I’ve ever heard of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”
Vereen is living his own version of that song, having overcome great adversity in his personal life. In the playbill, Vereen’s bio ends with “This one is for you, Naja!”
A Google search led me to Wikipedia, which revealed that Vereen’s 16-year-old daughter, Naja, was killed in an auto accident in 1987.
Toward the end of the show, Vereen sat cross-legged on the stage and told us about his own life-threatening car accident back in ’92. He expressed sincere thanks to his fans who sent letters of support, and offered support to others facing hardships in their lives.
Vereen’s last song brought the entire audience to its feet, and his eyes welled up with tears. (I was in the second row, so I could tell that it wasn’t just sweat from his brow.)
Thanks, Ben. You made my day.
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