Linda and Laura Benanti at the Kennedy Center

Kennedy Center Promotional Photo

Last year I had the chance to catch Leslie Odom Jr. in concert as part of the Kennedy Center's Renee Fleming VOICES series. The evening was absolutely wonderful. As you can imagine, I had high hopes for the next concert in the series - Linda and Laura Benanti. I've missed this show so many times at 54 Below that I've begun to lose count. Luckily, the Kennedy Center is a slightly larger venue so tickets were an easy catch.

I'm happy to say that the evening was wonderful yet again. Honestly, I can't gush enough about the shows and concerts KC is producing. It's definitely up there on the list of my very favorite venues - if only it could move a bit closer to Baltimore. Ninety-Four minutes in my car on a Friday is not an all together enjoyable way to spend an afternoon. But the Linda and Laura's performances made it all worth it.

When we first arrived, I was surprised to find the concert was in a different venue than where Leslie performed. The Terrace is a much smaller theatre, which was perfect for this more intimate show. Because of the size of the space, it seemed like I was watching the very same show they perform at 54 Below. It had that same "chatting with the audience" atmosphere that the shows at Feinstein's have. And if there's anything that Laura Benanti can do, it's chat and amuse the audience. 

She's a natural performer and her off- the-cuff remarks, or her inspirational chats with a musical-loving little girl in the third row were a highlight of the evening for sure. She's hilarious, and a great storyteller. Between her beautiful renditions of Broadway and pop-music favorites, she shared stories on topics ranging from her time on a cruise ship as one of only 4 straight people on an all-gay cruise to secrets of what was really happening during her Tony-nominated performance in She Loves Me while she dealt with severe morning sickness, and everything in between.  

Linda, Laura's mother and a Broadway actress in her own right, was no less lovely. Her stories were a little more polished than her spontaneous daughter's but were still very heartfelt. She shared what it was like to grow up in the area (she grew up in McLean VA which is not far from DC) and what it was like to witness her idol, Judy Garland in concert. She also has a beautiful voice and her rendition of "The Man that Got Away" - a personal favorite of mine - earned her the biggest applause of the evening. Absolutely gorgeous!

The mother and daughter duo also joined together on a few medleys of songs they loved or songs that no one would would expect (a combination of "Rolling on the River", "All the Single Ladies, and "I would do Anything for Love...", among others...) It was the perfect mix of ridiculous and hilarious! Their final duet (before the encore) was "Children will Listen." The ladies dedicated it to the children of Florida who are fighting so hard to ban guns right now. It was beautiful and so meaningful in today's political climate.

Linda and Laura are both so different, and so very much the same. Their song choices reflected these differences perfectly.  Solos of their own personal favorites (Judy Garland for Linda, and Tori Amos for Laura) were mixed with lots of Broadway staples, which allowed them to come back together again in harmony.  You could see their love for each other at these times, and how much fun they had performing together, which made the concert an all together fabulous evening!