Daily News | Philly Pops spotlights the lyricist who inspired the music: Oscar Hammerstein II
In a way, there’s nothing special about an Oscar Hammerstein II song — no particular way with a melody, no harmonic fingerprint of chord changes that could betray its authorship.
You also had to feel Friday night at the show’s opening in Verizon Hall that there’s a particular brand of American optimism pulsing through Hammerstein’s words. The Philly Pops has evolved artistically in the past few years, and especially since Abell took over in 2020. An outing with the ensemble, though, still means a trip in a time machine, and with three excellent singers and the 122-voice Philly Pops Festival Chorus, we found ourselves pining for a spot up on a hill.
The show’s creators were pressured to remove the song from the musical, but Rodgers and Hammerstein stood their ground, as Abell said in comments to the audience. Some Georgia lawmakers viewed it as a threat to the American way of life, and introduced legislation banning entertainment with “an underlying philosophy inspired by Moscow.”
With vocalists Callaway, Humbley and Rosena Hill Jackson, the Pops’ show Friday cycled through operetta, Broadway and more. There were no standouts among the performances, which included “People Will Say We’re In Love,” “All the Things You Are” or “Why Was I Born?” — though Callaway had clarity and charm, and Jackson a sound that was both lithe and velvety. Humbley had a clarion tenor that molded itself to precise emotional moments.didn’t neglect the orchestral aspect of the evening.
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