11/27/2017-New York City— “The Donny Nova Band Featuring
Julia Trojan” was the focus of the show “Bandstand”. Once brought together, Corey
Cott (Donny Novitski/Donny Nova), Laura Osnes (Julia Trojan), Geoff Packard
(Wayne Wright), Joe Carroll (Johnny Simpson), Joey Pero (Nick Radel), James
Nathan Hopkins (Jimmy Campbell), Brandon J. Ellis (Davy Zlatic) got to understand the show’s message, and
enjoyed playing music from it. To
promote the show, they had made appearances outside of the stage show during
its run. The show closed on September 17th,
2017; the show’s fans wondered where the cast would go next.
Fast forward nine weeks later. The Birdland Jazz Club,
established 1949, played host to “The Donny Nova Band Featuring Julia
Trojan”. The night served as the “Bandstand”
cast reunion. News of the event was spread via social media and Playbill’s
website, and quickly sold out. Looking
around the room, you could see fans of the show, guests of the actors,
“Bandstand” ensemble dancers, and some of the “Bandstand” creative team.
The Birdland club has a history you could see on its walls,
and you could get lost in. After he got everyone’s attention, Jim Caruso
(the event’s emcee) welcomed those gathered and introduced Corey Cott and James
Nathan Hopkins to the stage. Cott and
Hopkins took time to address the audience who may have -or may not have- seen
“Bandstand” before. The response was mixed, prompting Cott to comment: “This
will be a weird 70 minutes for you then…”.
To introduce the rest of “The Donny Nova Band”, Corey Cott
and James Nathan Hopkins used the song “I Know A Guy” from their show; they referenced a different actor in each verse. As each person appeared, they quickly caught
up with everyone before singing about the next one. This in-between banter got more and more
amusing, and Laura Osnes was finally announced as the final person in this band.
As they had on stage nine weeks ago, “The Donny Nova Band
Featuring Julia Trojan” picked up where they left off: with the songs they
played on stage, and bantering amongst themselves. As
they played “First Steps First”, the actors paused to admit times they forgot
their lines. During “Ain’t We Proud”,
they related to the audience that “Bandstand” received the status of “Got Your
6” certification-an honor awarded for portraying the soldiers’ stories
accurately and responsibly. They were enjoying re-visiting the show and
talking about it.
There were surprises in this show that delighted the crowd.
Laura Osnes and Corey Cott mentioned that “Bandstand” cut some material from
the Broadway production. The duo introduced and performed two songs that had been
edited out: “Worth It” (one of the original contest entry songs) and “Give Me A
Reason” (Donny’s Act 2 song). Laura Osnes also performed an extended version of
one of the songs in the production.
Besides bringing up “Bandstand” stories, the cast performed
standards and original songs. For his
part, Joey Pero played a piece he wrote.
James Nathan Hopkins went over to the piano to play one of his favorite
Jazz pieces. Brandon J. Ellis stepped
away from his stand-up bass to sing “My Funny Valentine”; Hopkins took Ellis’
place on bass for this song. Joe Carroll and Geoff Packard sang about their
actor-musician challenges to the tune of “Agony” from musical “Into the Woods”.
“Nobody”, a high-energy musical number from “Bandstand”, closed out the show. People in the
audience applauded the finale, expecting an encore. Corey Cott sensed this and began crooning
“I’m Dreaming of White Christmas”.
For one night on November 27th, 2017, the cast of
“Bandstand” re-united at the Birdland Jazz Club. Audience and actor alike had a good time. This show was sold out, and generated interest
regarding additional encores. The
response to this interest was quick: The Birdland Jazz Club will have “The
Donny Nova Band Featuring Julia Trojan” back for a return engagement in March.