OCEAN CITY – Maestro Vince Lee enjoys bringing rising young artists to the Music Pier to front the highly polished Ocean City Pops Orchestra. Sunday night, the soloist was Lakisha Jones, an “American Idol” winner and successful Broadway actor. She sang and pranced her way through Whitney Houston covers, adding her own energy and style.
She opened her first set with a shouting “I’m Your Baby Tonight,” joyfully interacting with her two back-up singers and capturing the audience. She quickly followed with “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” another cut from the same Houston album as the Pops accompanied with wood blocks, string bass, and even some orchestra personnel singing along.
Jones wore four different outfits. The first choice was reminiscent of Tina Turner as Jones bounced through “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” The tiny melodic pattern from the clarinet and a sparkling orchestration included only strings at the very end.
The second set, this time Jones, in full-length beige, came back to Houston’s “I Look to You,” a duet with Pops cellist Noelle Grand and light piano providing the rest of the musical setting. French horn was the featured counter-melody for “I Have Nothing,” another Houston tune. A key change drove the energy level higher as Jones finished the first half.
Jones changed to red for her second half. She doesn’t walk across the stage, she struts. From there, she invaded the audience and briefly sat on the lap of local classical soloist, Bob Snodgrass, before shaking hands with most of the front row of the crowd.
After another change, a black dress complete with feathers, she drew the audience into singing the “Shoop Shoop” of “Exhale.” Temporarily leaving Houston, she became Donna Summer for a high-powered “Bad Girls” that capitalized on short phrases alternating with the orchestra, driving fiercely to the final cadence.
For her encore, she teased the audience into asking for “I Will Always Love You,” a song that Dolly Parton wrote for Houston.
During the many costume changes, the Pops Orchestra provided delightful instrumental interludes in the same spirit as Jones’ selections: “Shallow” (Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper); a Whitney Houston medley that included her signature “The Greatest Love of All”; Adele’s “Skyfall”; and a rollicking “Celebration” with Lee at the keyboard to smash open the second half of the concert.
The entire concert was, indeed, “smashing.” Lee comes back tonight for a dueling keyboards concert with his college friend Eric Svejcar.
– STORY and PHOTOS by RICHARD STANISLAW/For the Sentinel