By Nate Miller

Above: From left to right, Joshua Vacanti, Grace Choi, Austin Marshall, Michael J. Galante, Debbie Pappas Sham, Genevieve Ellis. (All images from the Starring Buffalo Facebook)

Since 2018, Starring Buffalo has been presenting staged concerts in WNY. Artistic Director Drew Fornarola was inspired by New York City Center Encores and unites visiting Broadway stars, Buffalo professional artists, area students and community members. I was privileged to sing in the Community Chorus of Titanic in 2024.

Starring Buffalo Sings: Broadway Love Songs was the Valentine’s weekend offering this year, featuring songs about all types of love from the Broadway catalog. The cast was made up of “Avenue Q” veteran Grace Choi, “Les Misérables” tour veteran and SUNY Fredonia grad Genevieve Ellis, “The Voice” season 21 alum Joshua Vacanti, and Buffalo performers Debbie Pappas Sham, Michael J. Galante, and Austin Marshall. The concert, directed by Sabrina Kahwaty Garcia and music directed by Dr. Bridget Moriarty, weaved songs from the Golden Age with songs from current Broadway hits, sometimes incorporating stories, jokes or references, but always excellent musicianship. The show was ASL interpreted expertly — my son enjoyed watching the interpreters perform the songs along with the performers — and students from the St. Mary’s School for the Deaf joined the cast to open Act 2!

The staged concert format tends to mean there are few rehearsals, performers move about the stage with music stands on wheels, and the songs are, more often than not, material that the performers are so familiar with to the point that we forget they’ve got the sheet music there. Kahwaty Garcia has given us the opportunity to watch Choi perform “The More You Ruv Someone,” which she did 8 shows a week for four years Off-Broadway in “Avenue Q,” as well as the opportunity to watch Ellis sing “I Dreamed a Dream” from “Les Miz.” I was particularly happy to hear Ellis render this performance again — she performed the role of Fantine 33 times on tour, including opening night here at Shea’s in a full-circle moment.

The evening flows at a nice pace, with songs grouped by theme or type of love. Kahwaty Garcia very sweetly drops us into the evening with a “meet-cute” moment, and you can feel her directorial touch ever so lightly throughout the evening. At various points, songs were taken out of the context of their musical and stripped down to their emotional roots.

Each performer has moments to shine, whether it was the aforementioned moments from Choi and Ellis, or Pappas Sham performing “Vanilla Ice Cream” and sharing with the audience the story of the Kavinoky production of “She Loves Me” that she starred in with her husband, Norm Sham. Galante is leaned on for comedy for most of the evening, including “You’ll Be Back” from “Hamilton” and “Friendship” from Anything Goes, but he also charms in “I’ll Know” with Pappas Sham. Vacanti (whose vocal elasticity must be the envy of most singers) is well-utilized throughout. Although I felt he relied on his voice over style in some moments, his best moment of the evening comes in Act 2’s “For Forever” from “Dear Evan Hansen.” I’ve heard whispers that it may be seen onstage this season — I think you’d be hard-pressed to find someone locally who will sing it better. Despite the impressive performances throughout, the peak of the evening came with Austin Marshall’s “Maria” from “West Side Story.” It was simple in its presentation, no gimmicks, just a great singer and a great song. It’s what I love best about Starring Buffalo and their work — bringing talented performers to the stage to present the very essence of the Broadway music we know and love. I look forward to their future performances.