MUSIC REVIEW : Feinstein Delivers Dose of Nostalgia

Having just performed two hours of classic American pop songs for an opening night audience at the Civic Theatre, Michael Feinstein stood alone in front of his piano and fielded requests for an encore. “Always!” yelled one woman; “Over There!” exclaimed someone else.

Then, a decidely masculine voice from the orchestra section shouted “You and I.” Feinstein rolled his eyes. He couldn’t resist: “Really? What would your wife think of that?” The crowd roared, of course, but quieted quickly as Feinstein sat down at his piano and rendered a touching version of Irving Berlin’s “Always.”

Such was the progression of Feinstein’s “Piano and Voice” solo concert on Wednesday: his wit and charm wowed the crowd on an immediate level; the music he sang carried a timeless quality, transporting the audience back to an era of innocent love songs and touchingly egocentric ballads.

Feinstein will appear at the Civic Theatre through New Year’s Eve. Anyone with any fondness for the show tunes dawning from the first half of the 20th Century should rush to secure tickets.

Feinstein is 34 years old, but the songs he interprets are ageless wonders--American classics penned by the likes of Irving Berlin, George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter and Burton Lane. To note that he “interprets” is important, too; merely to say he “sings” would not cover sufficient territory. Feinstein injects every song with an elegant passion, reminding us, for instance, that songs such as “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” are more than just Christmas carols, they have a history (“Have Yourself . . .,” for example, first appeared on screen in the 1944 film “Meet Me in St. Louis”), and they tell a wonderful story.

Feinstein’s biography is a wonderful story in itself.

Through a series of chance meetings, Feinstein met his childhood idol Ira Gershwin in 1976 and soon thereafter became Gershwin’s personal assistant and archivist. Upon Gershwin’s death in 1983, Feinstein entrenched himself in the world of cabaret, made a name for himself as a singer-pianist and now, after playing extended, sold-out runs on Broadway, is considered by many to be the savior of the American show tune.

Vocally, Feinstein reminds one of a young Johnny Mathis, particularly when his elegantly quavering voice sustains a single note. His voice is powerful and malleable, perfectly suited for covering a wide variety of material. As a pianist, he is solid but unspectacular; when, during Wednesday’s performance, he focused on his keyboards rather than the lyrics, the show dragged perceptibly. Thankfully, these instrumental interruptions were few.

Without question, Feinstein’s popularity springs from his cosmopolitan wit and his literate tributes to classic songs.

“I do sing newer songs, but when I do them, they sound old,” deadpanned Feinstein as he introduced one example, “Where do You Start,” from his 1988 album “Isn’t It Romantic.” True enough. But the mostly silver-haired audience appeared to have come to hear the songs they first heard many years back on the radio or at the movies. Feinstein willingly obliged.

His extended version of the Harburg-Arlen song “If I Only Had a Brain” from the 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz” demonstrated the crooner’s skill in conjuring nostalgic images from the past. Generations of Americans journeyed or grew up with with the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion; Feinstein managed to re-introduce us to that fabled triumvirate, all the while bringing a sense of characterization and freshness to the lyrics.

Similarly, Feinstein revived such standards as Dietz-Schwartz’s “That’s Entertainment,” Irving Berlin’s “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” George and Ira Gershwin’s “Someone to Watch Over Me” and Burton Lane’s “How About You.”

Feinstein threatened to close his concert with a New Kids on the Block medley, but when the audience protested, he convinced the group to join him in a raucous, subtly raunchy song that Groucho Marx made famous: “Lydia the Tattooed Lady.” Afterward, having helped with the chorus, the crowd beamed as they filed for the exits.

Just like the song’s “Lydia,” Michael Feinstein is an “encyclopiddia,” a historian chronicling and exhibiting a treasured chapter of American history. There is no camp in his act, just devotion and adoration for a magical sound, an aspiration to reach a musical never-never land.

Michael Feinstein in “Piano and Voice” runs through Monday at the San Diego Civic Theatre, with performances at 8 p.m. Saturday and Monday, 7:30 p.m. Sunday and matinees at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $22.50 to $35 Dec. tonight through Sunday and $35-$50 on Monday.