Review: MY GOLDEN AGE at Kravis Center

Following her successful performance at Carnegie Hall, Broadway star Jessica Vosk has taken her cabaret show, My Golden Age, on the road, and on March 3rd and 4th she graced the Rinker stage of the Kravis center for the Performing Arts.

For those unfamiliar with her career, Vosk's big break came in 2009 when she was cast as a vocalist for the live concert Kristina written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA. She made her Broadway debut in 2014 in Jason Robert Brown's Bridges of Madison County. From there she went to Finding Neverland, and then in 2015 the Broadway Revival of Fiddler on the Roof. She left Fiddler on The Roof in 2016 to join the cast of the Second National Tour of Wicked, going on to reprise the role of Elphaba in the Broadway production in 2018. She was the winner of the 2019 Broadway.com Audience Choice Award for Best Replacement (Female) for her portrayal of Elphaba.

Vosk released her first album Wild and Free in 2018. The album is a mix of musical theatre and pop and includes songs by Sara Bareilles, Jason Robert Brown, Prince, Sia,and Pasek and Paul. She subsequently released an EP of Christmas songs titled A Very CoCo Christmas in 2020.

Vosk opened her show with a mash up of the songs "Let Me Entertain You" from Gypsy and "Pure Imagination" from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Other musical highlights includes an interesting medley of "Do You Love Me?," from Fiddler on the Roof" Stone Poney's "Different Drum", Andrew Lloyd Webber's "I Don't Know How to Love Him" and Sondheim's "Everybody Says Don't." Never fear - she does of course sing a couple of songs from Wicked! She later does a stellar job with "Don't Rain on My Parade from Funny Girl, and closes her show by inviting the audience to sing along with her Elton John's "Your Song." Followed by a beautifully sung encore of the iconic "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

Vosk regales the audience with humorous tales of her Broadway experiences from fumbled auditions as one of Bette Midler's Harlettes, to being, not-so-good as a swing in Bridges of Madison County, a mid-show replacement as Golde in Fiddler on the Roof, and even performance mishaps in her most notable role as Elphaba in Wicked on Broadway. She is engaging, funny, clever and always present. Though possessed of impressive talent (that voice!), and a formidable resume she never takes herself too seriously. My Golden Age is cabaret at it's finest, and the 75-minute show flew by. Vosk does not sing covers of songs - she interprets them and makes them uniquely hers, and her musicianship and enormous likeability shines through.

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