Review: Neil Berg's 101 Years of Broadway offers it all at the Gallo Center

You can't accuse Neil Berg of not having diverse tastes. His highly entertaining musical revue "Neil Berg's 101 Years of Broadway," which ran at the Gallo Center for the Arts tonight, hit show tunes from every era. His five-member cast of skilled Broadway veterans sang music from every era, starting with vintage Judy Garland tunes ("Trolley Song") on through the Gershwins ("Someone to Watch Over Me"), Rodgers and Hammerstein ("South Pacific"), Andrew Lloyd Webber ("Cats, "Phantom of the Opera") and recent hit "Jersey Boys." Some of the more exciting tunes performed by the cast were "Aqaurius" from "Hair," "Unchained Melody" from soon-to-be musical "Ghost" and "Fever" from "Ain't Nothin' But the Blues." Three cheers to amazing cast members Carter Calvert, Rita Harvey, Grant Norman, Robert DuSold and Lawrence Clayton! If you didn't care for one style of music, you only had to wait a bit to get to another one. It was no surprise that the show got a sustained, enthusiastic standing ovation at the end. The show was more about talent than flash. The performers sang on an empty stage without sets or even much lighting. But anyone who appreciated hearing a good voice backed by a great band had nothing to complain about. At the end, Berg urged the mostly gray-haired audience to embrace change on Broadway and let younger people experiment with modern music. "We must keep this art form alive," he said. Neil Berg and his friends performed their "100 Years of Broadway" show at the Gallo Center last year with great response. Let's hope they bring "102 Years of Broadway" back to the center next year! - Bee arts/entertainment writer Lisa Millegan