By Shari Barrett
The opening night The Best of Broadway concert kicked off the 2026 Summer Season at the Hollywood Bowl on June 20. It celebrated the timeless melodies and breathtaking artistry of the American musical. From heartstring-tugging ballads to razzle-dazzle songs with talented dancers filling the stage with glitz and incredible energy, featured soloists included screen star Halle Bailey, Tony winners Darren Criss, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Brian Stokes Mitchell, and Lea Salonga, along with the recent Spotlight Competition winner Lucy Acuña from Cerritos.
The evening was hosted by Billy Crystal, and helmed by Musical Director Kevin Stites and Choreographer Spence Liff, and featured the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra conducted by Thomas Wilkins, who has worked with the Hollywood Bowl for over twenty years. Also featured were musicians from YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles) which provides young people, ages five through eighteen, with free instruments, intensive music instruction, and opportunities to perform on stages in their communities and around the world. And of course, the evening was capped with a spectacular fireworks display perfectly timed with Leonard Bernstein’s overture for his Broadway musical Candide.
In addition to his truly staggering, award-winning career conducting and guest conducting a who’s who’s list of orchestras across the country, Thomas Wilkins has held a titled position at the Hollywood Bowl since 2008 when he was named Principal Guest Conductor. And in the Spring of 2014, he became Principal Conductor. He brings lots of energy and shares his love and commitment to music every time he raises his baton.
Opening with “I Hope I Get It” from A Chorus Line featuring the evening’s talented dancers, host Billy Crystal then took the stage, delivered a few jokes and introduced the evening’s performers. A revised 2017 orchestral arrangement of “That’s Entertainment” by John Williams was accompanied by several dancers grouped in costumes reflecting many big Broadway musicals, including West Side Story and On The Town among several others. And what an exciting and entertaining evening it was!
The soloists and songs in the order presented were; Brian Stokes Mitchell “There’s No Business Like Show Business” from Annie Get Your Gun, Lea Salonga “Send in the Clowns” from A Little Night Music, Darren Criss “Something’s Coming” from West Side Story, Renée Elise Goldsberry “Satisfied” from Hamilton, Halle Bailey “Part of Your World” from The Little Mermaid, Darren Criss and Lea Salonga belting duet of “Suddenly Seymour” from Little Shop of Horrors, Renée Elise Goldsberry “You’ll Never Walk Alone” from Carousel, Lea Salonga “I’d Live My Life for You” from Miss Saigon, Darren Criss “Put on Your Sunday Clothes” from Hello Dolly which featured several dancers decked out in highly stylized black and white costumes who were joined by all five featured singers for the rousing Act 1 closing number.
Act 2 began with host Billy Crystal talking about the YOLA program and introducing a video featuring students at the group’s various locations around Los Angeles sharing what being involved in the orchestra has meant to them and their families. Several YOLA musicians then performed along with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra during the first two numbers of Act 2: Lea Salonga singing “Take a Chance on Me” and “Dancing Queen” from Momma Mia, and Brian Stokes Mitchell amazing voice raising “The Impossible Dream” from Man of La Mancha to heights the likes of which I have never seen before – and to which Lea Salonga quipped “That man’s voice is a blessing for us all” as she took the stage to introduce the very recently named 2026 Spotlight Competition winner Lucy Acuña from Cerritos who sang an emotionally perfect rendition of “On My Own” from Les Misérables.
The rest of Act 2 included Renée Elise Goldsberry saluting the 30th Anniversary of Rent with “Without You” and “No Day But Today” performed with three back-up singers. Darren Criss brought out his guitar to sing “The Music of the Night” from Phantom of the Opera which he dedicated to his mom, Halle Bailey in a gorgeous beaded gown and too-high-to-believe heels to sing “Home” from The Wiz, Lea Salonga sharing her amazing belt during “Defying Gravity” from Wicked, and Brian Stokes Mitchell “Wheels of a Dream” from Ragtime.
After Billy Crystal came out to thanks conductor Thomas Wilkins for lifting us all into the realm of The Best of Broadway, he then thanked all the YOLA donors in the audience and reminded us all proceeds from the Hollywood Bowl Opening Night concert will support the LA Phil’s programs that enrich youth through music and the performing arts.
A grand fireworks display to the overture of Candide followed, and then the grand finale to “One” from A Chorus Line was performed during which each of the featured soloists returned to the stage to take their well-deserved bows. All in all, it was a truly wonderful celebration of fabulous music and entertainers that offered a sense of real community among audience members devoted to keeping the Hollywood Bowl so popular it will always be able to keep offering the best of the best in entertainment for many years to come! For more information about upcoming Hollywood Bowl concerts, including the July Fourth Fireworks Spectacular with The Beach Boys on July 2-3-4, visit hollywoodbowl.com.
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