SHOWTUNES AS NON-STOP SHOWSTOPPERS

With a gloriously gargantuan voice, plus energy and heart in substantial supply, Carly Ozard doesn’t hold back or back off from the challenge of tackling a wide range of musical theatre styles and character types in Chain of Love: A Broadway Album. With that voluminous variety and the program’s prominent presence of a slew of singers guesting (mostly for duets) on half a dozen of the 16 tracks, the recording plays almost like a compilation of showstoppers culled from various cast albums. Featured are fellow cast members from productions by San Francisco’s Lamplighters Music Theatre. Most of the treatments loyally honor the repertoire’s musical theatre roots, rather than overly personalizing (reinventing, revamping, revising, revisiting) songs to tailor them to a consistent, more narrow real-life persona. Being so comfortably true to the origins and characters makes it the musical equivalent of a kid let loose in a costume warehouse, allowed to wear any eye-catching garb, confident it will fit, lying on the strong material, with perhaps the help of some elastic or a belt. And, oh what an elastic voice and oh, what a belt this performer has with the strong material that was chosen!

Gamely stepping into the shoes of specific characters (there’s that wardrobe analogy again), the performer walks sturdily, alone or with capable company. One of the most impressive examples is a number from Sweeney Todd that includes the dialogue; chameleon Carly performer is joined by Sara Couden, both taking on male characters praising “Pretty Women.†Sampling the same Sondheim score, but in an easy-as-pie switch to the female role of Mrs. Lovett, “A Little Priest†is more than a little irreverent and dazzling with Charles Martin as the partner in cooking up a mighty meaty scheme. Other guests are: Mark Thomas for a knockout version of “The Origin of Love†from Hedwig and the Angry Inch; Noah Evans for the amatory “Wanting†from Rags; both Jane Erwin and Jennifer Ashworth on board for “Love Changes Everything†from Aspects of Love; and more strength in numbers when Lawrence Ewing shares a masterful “Master of the House†that could bring down the house even more when a lusty group joins in on this rowdy Les Misérables pick.

It’s not that Carly Ozard needs the help of these folks billed as “Friends,†being, of course, a formidable force of nature as a soloist. For earthy qualities, the lower register of the voice is the most satisfyingly resonant and rich, but some things, such as the recording’s title-referenced “Chain of Love†from The Grass Harp are keyed closer to the soprano stratosphere. While the set is subtitled A Broadway Album, a couple of the solos are not actually songs from musicals that landed on Broadway. You’re gonna hear “You’re Gonna Hear from Me†from a movie (Inside Daisy Clover) and a splendid independent song called “Daughter of God†by the team of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman. (They asked Emmylou Harris to record it. She declined, but other singers have taken it up, and it’s great to have one more do so.) Those who pick up the CD will see the names of the singers, musicians, arrangers, producers, and supporting friends and family listed, but absent are the names of the songwriters and the musicals these show tunes were written for. That should have been prioritized instead of giving most of one panel of cardboard “real estate†to printing lines from Kenward Elmslie’s touching lyric to “Chain of Love.â€

There are some selections that might have benefited from fuller accompaniment that didn’t feel so basic and bare-bones-y or a tempo that would be more relaxed (rather than rushed in an over-eager way) to give room to phrase with more nuance and allow for more acting in the singing. Arrangements are credited to Jordan L. Wolf and Bill Zeffiro, although there’s no indication of which man did which chart or if some were collaborations. Baker Peeples is musical director and pianist; son Baker Peeples II is violinist, Daniel Fabricant is on bass and Jerry Herrera plays cajón, a box-shaped percussion instrument. The album producer is Leo Frappier.

While much here is intensely or immensely earnest, Irving Berlin’s cute creation “Falling Out of Love Can Be Fun†is a welcome change of pace and is indeed fun, serving as respite from the parade of pow. While the recording is quite the showcase of showstopping show tunes showing versatility galore, even more evidence of the dynamo’s range can be found in live performances posted on the Youtube channel — everything from pop to EDM to Gilbert & Sullivan to rock – and more. Is there anything this interestingly intrepid musical adventurer can’t do?

Chain of Love: A Broadway Album, released August 2025 on Pink Frenchie Records, is on CD and digital platforms like Apple Music, Spotify, and Amazon. For more info, visit Carly Ozard.