REVIEW: TITUSS BURGESS BRINGS COMEDY, VOCAL PROWESS AND HUMANNESS TO SARATOGA
01/31/25 @ Universal Preservation Hall, Saratoga
“‘Welcome to the church of Tituss, where the only deity is music…’”
Titus Andromedon is one of my wife’s top five favorite television characters of all time. She asked me, as we were sitting in the balcony at Saratoga’s Universal Preservation Hall on Friday night, to include that in this very review. Being a good husband, I of course obliged.
To be clear, we were at UPH to see a performance from Tituss Burgess, the actor who played Titus Andromedon on Netflix’s lovable comedy, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. The role – an aspiring actor vying for his big Broadway break – was tailormade for him. Burgess’ endearingly goofy performance made it clear that he was a triple threat (at least!): he could sing, he could act, and he could make an audience laugh to the point of tears from the comfort of their couches.
That being said, it’s important to remember that an actor/performer is more than just their most memorable performance. After all, Bryan Cranston was a subtly hilarious father of three on Malcolm in the Middle long before he was Walter White. Steve Carell has done the most impressive work of his career in the years since playing Michael Scott. And Tituss Burgess is an impressive Broadway actor who’s starred in runs of The Little Mermaid, Guys and Dolls, and Into The Woods well before he was swept up to play Kimmy Schmidt’s scene-stealing roommate.
When the house lights dimmed on Friday night, there was a four piece band on stage performing an epic jazz rendition of the ‘80s classic, “Everybody Wants to Rule The World”. Burgess was nowhere to be seen. You could sense the crowd shuffling in their seats wondering what exactly we were in for. Was this a warm-up act?
Turns out, no. They were, in fact, Burgess’ backing band, and we were about to be entertained and serenaded by them all for the next 90+ minutes. He walked on just as the quartet was finishing their Tears For Fears reimagining and transitioned seamlessly into the more recognizable version of the song, this time with Burgess on lead vocal.
What followed can only be described as a thoughtfully crafted love letter to music. “Welcome to the church of Tituss, where the only deity is music,” he declared early on in the show. He then had the crowd pledge allegiance to his church. As someone with, let’s say, atheistic tendencies, this was a church I could actually see myself joining.
Throughout his ‘sermon,’ Burgess treated us all to an eclectic mix of pop songs like John Mayer’s “Bigger Than My Body,” big band renditions and a slew of Broadway songs spanning the gamut of well-known (“Poor Unfortunate Souls”) to deeper cuts (“Anyone Can Whistle”). The former was an absolute delight to watch, including an introduction from Burgess talking about how he was cast as Sebastian in The Little Mermaid back in 2007 when he was really born to play the role of Ursula. Based on this performance, it’s hard not to agree with him.
But it was the latter, a Steven Sondheim tune from a play of the same name, that really struck a chord with the audience. Stripped down to just Burgess and his pianist (also simultaneously the band’s conductor!), it was an absolute triumph of authenticity. Watching Burgess get noticeably choked up while singing ensured there was hardly a dry eye in the audience, and also demonstrated just how much the artform has impacted him.
In fact, the show was structured not unlike an actual play, divided into two acts. When the second one began after a brief intermission, he held a delightful Q&A session with – and from! – the audience. This included tidbits about his childhood (“I was an only child who spent a lot of time with adults…”), a hand-delivered white wine from an audience member (Pinot noir, naturally), and a reunion of sorts with an aspiring theatre actor who, years ago, met and was encouraged by Burgess himself down in New York City. The two hugged near the back of the crowd before Burgess made his way back to the stage.
In the midst of all this, Burgess reminded us all that “stars” are human beings before anything else. Between the lengthy Q&A session, the handshakes and compliments for his band members on stage, and the time spent in the crowd taking selfies mid-song, he was earnest and human through and through. These were also some of the most memorable moments of the show, which is saying something because Burgess is just as phenomenal of a singer as he is a performer – seriously, what a range.
In the end, it was a night stacked with comedic banter and memorable performances that elicited a few audible “wow”s from the audience. During the intermission, I overheard a woman say, “He’s a real showman!” which was such an apt description, I had to write it down.
It’s safe to say that after a service like this, we were all newfound believers in the gospel of Tituss. Consider this my way of spreading the good word.
