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April 20, 2007
Just a Broadway baby
Israeli singer brings showstoppers to gala.
KATHARINE HAMER EDITOR
Even as a young child, Isaac Sutton was enthralled by music.
In a recent interview with the Independent, Sutton, who will
perform here next month at a gala fund-raiser for the Louis Brier
Home and Hospital, said his earliest memory was of watching Israeli
singer Ofra Haza in the Eurovision song contest in 1982.
Now, as one of Israel's leading vocalists, Sutton stars in his own
Broadway tribute show – Broadway and All That Jazz –
on tour and at the Cameri Theatre in Tel-Aviv. He has also made
appearances on the television programs Made in Israel and
Singing on Air. But as a youngster, he was "very shy.
If you had told me a few years ago [that] I would be singing in
front of hundreds of people on a regular basis, I would have probably
laughed and said it's a good joke. At times nowadays, I still can't
believe this is all happening to me. It's really a dream come true.
"I never got to participate in any school shows or special
events," he recalled. "It was only in the last year of
my military service that I was asked to host the annual memorial
service for Yitzhak Rabin at my base. One of the singers got sick
and I found myself replacing him and singing for the very first
time in front of an audience of 2,000 people. I still remember the
excitement and the thrill of that performance. This is when I first
realized that singing and performing live in front of an audience
is what I am really passionate about."
He began to take voice lessons, and joined a local music ensemble
before starting to work on his own show.
"Broadway has given us such great songs," he said, explaining
his choice of genre. "The test of a great song, in my opinion,
is not whether the song went to number 1 on the charts, but if it
touched people's lives and stood the test of time.... What I love
about Broadway is having the opportunity to create a character and
for a short while, live in its world."
With relatives in New York, Sutton was exposed to Broadway from
an early age. The first show he saw was when he was 13, on a bar
mitzvah trip to the city.
"We went to see the musical Cats," he recalled.
"I can't say it blew me away. All I remembered was a bunch
of actors dressed up as cats and running around the stage. I couldn't
understand how this musical became the most successful musical of
all time.
"It was only recently that I realized that sometimes what a
musical needs is just one hit song – [in this case] 'Memory'
by Andrew Lloyd Webber. This is one of the songs I am planning to
sing in Vancouver."
Sutton is also planning to perform songs from Cabaret, Joseph
and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Annie Get Your Gun
and his personal favorite, Chicago.
"I think it is the perfect combination of Broadway and jazz,"
he said. "All the songs from that show are such show-stoppers,
you simply cannot get tired of it. I have seen the London production,
the New York production and the Israeli one. On Passover eve, after
the seder dinner, my family and I watched the movie version which
was broadcast on TV and I realized I pretty much know the text by
heart."
Although Sutton noted that his family "appreciates great music,"
he said that his parents never sang and "cannot really carry
a tune.... It came to them as a very big surprise to find out their
son can actually sing."
He described himself as being "very much influenced by Frank
Sinatra and Barbra Streisand.... I think they are the greatest singers
of our time. A few months ago, I attended Streisand's concert at
Madison Square Gardens in New York and it was an unforgettable experience."
Ironically, Sutton – whose debut album will be released next
year – very nearly ended up in a different kind of business.
He studied economics and completed an MBA at Tel-Aviv University.
But, in his final year, he found his calling as a performer.
"For now, it's all showbiz," he declared. "Like Steven
Sondheim's song from the musical Follies says: 'I'm just
a Broadway baby!' "
Sutton will perform at the Louis Brier gala dinner Sunday, May 6,
at the Four Seasons Hotel. For tickets and information, call 604-261-5550.
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