Another glorious, if only short lived, revival at City Center Encores! A wartime musical penned by the indomitable pair - Betty Comden and Adolph Green with music by Leonard Bernstein. The tale, as it goes, has 3 baby-faced sailors on shore for 24 hours in New York City. One can only imagine the trouble they find. First performed in 1944 during WWII, there is probably some small echo today of a wartime nation watching a few fresh faced (read absolutely gorgeous) young military boys entertain us on stage. 
Fresh off his role in Gypsy - Tony Yazbeck takes the helm (Gabey) with the support of his two sailor buddies - Justin Bohon (Chip) and Christian Borle (Ozzie). The trio dance the show away - dazzling us with their graceful steps. Paired up with each of the boys are equally talented young ladies each with a different take on life in the big apple - Leslie Kritzer (Hildy), Jessica Lee Goldwyn (Ivy) and Jennifer Laura Thompaon (Claire de Loone) all live up to the expectations of their characters and each make you smile in their own way. Brava! But who steals the show? Well - Madame Maude P. Dilly of course. Played by none other than the incomparable Andrea Martin.
The show, as you would imagine, is a bit dated. Kind of wholesome, square, and contrived - but most of the classic American musicals are. For us in 2008 - it may seem phony - but it provides us with a glimpse back when times and people, too, were simpler.
Guest Music Director and conductor Todd Ellison took the helm of the Encores! Orchestra in grand style - involving himself in a scene or two - as it usually goes with the Encores! productions.
If I had one complaint - it was not about the show's production quality - it was about the staging. Shame on you John Lee Beatty for allowing the house to be sold out and then setting the "second" stage so far back. The idea of placing the Encores! orchestra right up front is great, but you can't create an entire stage behind them. Nobody can see what's going on - except for those in dead center orchestra seats! For Christ's sake - i was sitting center grant tier - and i had trouble seeing what was going on back there on the sides. The poor people who paid $95 a ticket in Row A of the Mezzanine should revolt and have you pay them back personally.
Were it not for the boyish and ever-graceful Tony Yazbeck (um, yes, i think he's absolutely and completely dreamy) I might be annoyed. *sigh*