By Kevin Coughlin
Remember that guy who Kristin Chenoweth plucked from the crowd during her season opener at the Mayo Performing Arts Center earlier this month?
The towering Israeli whose duet on For Good was so good it got a standing ovation?
Well, he insists he was not planted there by Chenoweth’s people.
“I was totally shocked,” said Isaac Sutton, a 34-year-old singer and actor from Tel Aviv.
Sutton raised his hand when Chenoweth asked for a volunteer because he knows all the songs from her Broadway run in Wicked. But he had to summon all his professional training to get over his surprise at suddenly being onstage with the star.
“She was very kind, very welcoming. It was so much fun. The orchestra sounded great…It was unforgettable,” said Sutton, who is visiting friends in New York.
Back home, Sutton has starred in a pair of revues: Las Vegas-Tel Aviv, featuring songs by Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Elvis Presley; and Shalom Broadway, a tribute to the Great White Way.
He said he has played Tel Aviv’s leading venues, the Cameri Theatre and Habima, the national theater of Israel, and has appeared in a French production of Romeo & Juliet, in Hebrew.
After serving his mandatory stint in the Israeli military (in intelligence, he said), Sutton pursued an MBA in Israel, singing in a band on the side.
Soon he had the performing bug, and found himself studying in New York at Circle in the Square and the Manhattan School of Music.
He has performed professionally in Europe, Brazil and Canada, he said, but not yet in the U.S.
Sutton’s visit to Morristown was his second attempt to see Chenoweth. About six months ago, he said, he had tickets to catch her on Broadway in On the 20th Century. But she was ill and did not perform.
Backstage after the Mayo show, Sutton said he and Chenoweth spoke of their mutual admiration for Barbra Streisand. Gracious and lovely, Chenoweth exuded the same warmth she had shown during their impromptu duet, Sutton said.
“We were both tearing up. It felt real. She’s in the moment. It’s real. That’s what really captivates the audience,” he said.
One aspect of their duet was an illusion, however. Sutton is not seven feet tall. The 6-foot-2 singer just looked like an NBA center next to the 4-foot-11 Chenoweth.
“She is very short,” Sutton confirmed.
Isaac Sutton!
Wow Kevin–I don’t believe you were able to track this guy down.
No, he wasn’t a plant.
I remember him walking through the box office when I was buying my ticket.
It just demonstrates the ability of music to transcend, transform and captivate in mystical ways.
I hope he gets to sing at Shanghai Jazz while he’s here-maybe with Dan Levinson who will be there on Thursday.
I ‘m currently reading Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by Oliver Sacks.
Recommended.