"Patinkin's mix of songs, patter make one enchanting evening" San Antonio Express-News By Diane Windeler October 18, 1999 Sunday night's wildly enthusiastic audience at the Majestic Theater was entertained by a countertenor, an outrageous stand-up comic, a lyric tenor, a tap dancer and a surprisingly resonant baritone. But they were all wrapped up in a single, irresistible package: Mandy Patinkin. In fact, except for a standing ghost light and exemplary pianist Paul Ford at an upright, the stage was bare, revealing the hodgepodge of equipment and accouterments that are usually hidden behind drops or shells. Thanks to sponsorship by the Jewish Community Center, Patinkin had come down the road from his fourth concert appearance in Austin to make his San Antonio debut. It was worth the wait. When a concert begins with a novelty potpourri sung in Yiddish, including "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" and an audience participatory "Hokey Pokey," you know an unusual evening is in store. The remainder of the program had an easy, extemporaneous flavor, brimming with surprises, yet crafted with care. Most selections were thematic mini-sets prefaced by an anecdote. He'd begin with one, modulate without pause to a very different song, return to a fragment of the first and close with something else. For example, a rapid-fire version of the vaudeville tune "Singing in the Bathtub" ("I'm singing with feeling while feeling for the soap"), segued to "Singing in the Rain," delivered in his trademark, flutelike head tone. Then it was back to another verse of "Bathtub" and on to a portion of the "Largo al Factotum" from "Barber of Seville," sung in a rich, well-rounded baritone. In passable Italian, yet! Talk about his childhood over a piano vamp led to an introspective melange of morsels from Patinkin's "Kidult" album: "Inchworm," "School Days," "It's Not Easy Being Green" and a multi-hued rendition of "Ugly Duckling" that would have made Danny Kaye proud. Another Frank Loesser patter-song from "Hans Christian Andersen" was "The Emperor's New Clothes," sandwiched within an impassioned rendition of Stephen Sondheim's "Everybody Says Don't." Tops among tongue-tanglers was the well-nigh-impossible "Minute Waltz" (it took two tries to complete), which Barbra Streisand introduced on her first TV special when she was still a pup. Highlighting the ballads were a chill-bumpy version of "Cat's in the Cradle" and a compelling, unusually manic account of the "Soliloquy" from "Carousel," in which he made use of his full vocal resources and style. There was pure silliness and self-mockery in a lengthy shtick leading to and surrounding "Coffee in a Cardboard Cup," when throngs of fans joined him on stage for the chance to "touch me anywhere and put gifts at my feet." Since he won a Tony for his portrayal of Che in "Evita," it was appropriate to offer a riveting account of Che's bitter eulogy as an encore. Afterwards came an engaging vaudeville set saluting Rudy Vallee and Al Jolson Ñ again, using all his cadre of voices. Sitting on the lip of the stage, Patinkin offered his final encore with fine-spun delicacy and poignance: "I'll Be Seeing You." We hope so.

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