THE BRIDGE FROM THE GREAT WHITE WAY
TO TINSELTOWN AND BACK AGAIN

The New York Pops’ concert From Stage to Screen at Carnegie Hall promised a night of crossover magic last Friday—songs that leapt from Broadway to Hollywood and back again—and, under Steven Reineke’s spirited baton, it delivered in Technicolor.

The evening’s guest artists, Hugh Panaro (forever linked with The Phantom of the Opera) and Broadway powerhouse Elizabeth Stanley (Jagged Little Pill, On the Town), proved an inspired pairing. Panaro brought silken tone and emotional sweep to “Bring Him Home” and the inevitable showstopper, “Music of the Night.” Stanley countered with thrilling renditions of “Don’t Rain on My Parade” and a gorgeously felt “Back to Before,” showing why she’s one of Broadway’s most expressive singing actors. Together, they lit up the hall with two cinematic duets—“Suddenly Seymour” and “Somewhere”—songs that bounded from stage to screen and back to the stage. Once upon a time, Hollywood turned to Broadway for great songs — sometimes borrowing them wholesale, sometimes reshaping them beyond recognition, creating the cinematic equivalent of a jukebox musical. By the ’50s and ’60s, the traffic ran the other way, as Broadway began adapting hit films for the stage. The exchange continues even now, a reminder that screen and stage have always shared a melody.

Reineke and the Pops were equally the stars, performing original and iconic orchestrations with lush precision, from the West Side Story Overture (Leonard Bernstein) to selections from Fiddler on the Roof (Jerry Bock). Between numbers, Reineke charmed the audience with morsels of musical trivia—reminding us, for example, that Barbra Streisand lost the Tony for Funny Girl to Carol Channing in Hello, Dolly! (Barbra won the Oscar for Funny Girl and took Channing’s role in the film version of Hello, Dolly!). Then there are shows which have long provenances: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was a 1928 silent film based on a 1925 novel by Anita Loos before it became a 1949 Broadway musical with music by Leo Robin and Jule Styne, and finally a 1953 film starring Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe (the property didn’t stop there—it was later reinvented in 1974 as Lorelei, a revised musical version again starring Carol Channing).

By the time the final chord faded, the inspiring From Stage to Screen had become more than a tribute—it was a reminder of how Broadway and Hollywood keep reinventing each other, trading melodies, stories, and stars in an endless pas de deux. And with so many movies of all stripes becoming musicals these days, it’s clear there’s a bright and rewarding future for this kind of show.

photos by Fadi Kheir

From Stage to Screen
The New York Pops, conducted by Steven Reineke
featuring Hugh Panaro and Elizabeth Stanley
Carnegie Hall, New York City
reviewed October 24, 2025

Program