Kate Baldwin: Let’s See What Happens

For her starring role in the Broadway-bound Finian’s Rainbow in the spring of 2009, actress-singer Kate Baldwin was hailed by The New York Times as ‘a discovery … her rich, pure soprano riding the crests of the melodies with ease.’ The New York Post proclaimed the newcomer ‘a real musical theater star,’ while Playbill christened her ‘our next, best, undiscovered musical comedy heroine.’ While critics were discovering Kate, the actress herself was rediscovering her love for the songs of Finian’s Rainbow creators Burton Lane and E.Y. Harburg; when she embarked on her first solo disc, she decided to showcase the work of these legendary songwriters. The result, Let’s See What Happens (music directed by Rob Berman, with a special appearance by Jonathan Tunick and His Broadway Moonlighters), is an auspicious debut album from one of Broadway’s newest and brightest stars. Equally at home with the tender ease of ‘How Are Things in Glocca Morra?’ as she is with the swinging drive of ‘Come Back to Me,’ Kate mines the rich lyrics of the smoldering ‘Paris Is a Lonely Town,’ exudes romance and wit in the playful ‘How About You?,’ and brings down the house with the raucous, robust ‘I Don’t Think I’ll End It All Today.’ The songs of Lane and Harburg seem custom-made for Kate’s glorious voice, and listeners are the lucky beneficiaries.