Review: Hollywood Bowl kicks off season with heartfelt 'Best of Broadway' though best may be a stretch
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Nostalgia for Broadway’s golden age is proving to be a potent societal anesthetic.The great shows of yesterday offer a vision of a kinder, gentler America, where the angels of our better nature aren’t considered chumps and the dream of a better tomorrow hasn’t been destroyed by zero-sum thinking.
The hunger for this sentiment — let’s call it basic goodness — is real.Sensitive to the public’s jangled mood, the Hollywood Bowl kicked off its 2026 season on Saturday with “The Best of Broadway,” a lavish, celebratory, unapologetically heartfelt concert headlined by Tony winners Lea Salonga, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Darren Criss and Renée Elise Goldsberry.Also on hand was Halle Bailey, a Grammy-nominated R&B artist, who’s on the rise.
She may not have any Broadway stage credits, but she’s become a musical theater talent to watch after her performance as Ariel in Disney’s live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid.”As host, Billy Crystal brought his impeccable comic timing and easy affability to the stage, making the grand gala feel as cozy as a backyard barbecue.He joked about the traffic — relieving everyone’s driving and parking stress.
He repeatedly plugged his new autobiographical show “860” that’s headed to Broadway in the fall.And he had us all in stitches when, after a burst of applause, he remarked that he hadn’t heard such a rousing ovation since they took Trump’s name off the Kennedy Center.The night raised $2.3 million for the L.A.
Philharmonic’s learning and community programs, including Youth Orchestra Los Angeles, the signature program launched during music director Gustavo Dudamel’s tenure to bring rigorous music education to underserved youth across Los Angeles County.Members of YOLA joined the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, expertly conducted by Thomas Wilkins, for a portion of the concert’s second half.The program, a sel...