The Last Ship

In its pre-Broadway try-out at the Bank of America Theater in Chicago, Sting's new musical, The Last Ship, is working out the kinks and honing its message for the masses of New York City this fall.

Sting has penned a surprisingly remarkable score fit for Broadway.  It's lush.   It provides a rich backdrop to the entire production and lifts the actors to amazing heights on the stage.  I'm the first to admit, I was impressed (I mean my expectations were set low after that Bono-Spider debacle).

The spunky and powerful Rachel Tucker (Meg Dawson) and smooth, throaty, and devilishly handsome Michael Esper (Gideon  Fletcher) with a voice like Sting's aptly helm the cast with support from such greats as Fred Applegate (Father O'Brien) and the always amazing Aaron Lazar (Arthur Millburn).

Now, to be honest, the story is not the happiest.  It's not exactly the most riveting or interesting.  It's a love story as many are.  It's set in an English shipbuilding town in North East England and has, as you would expect, the requisite love, rejection, acceptance, and key character death, general conflict, and will certainly entertain some.

I suspect it will not have mass-appeal as is required by a Broadway show these days, but Sting and his music will likely sell enough tickets to warrant the large investment to mount a Broadway show these days before the story's downside will overtake the music's upside.

I love checking out shows out of town and this one was no exception.  If you love Sting and want to see him showcase his musical talents in an entirely new way - get your ticket to the New York production today!

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Sometimes it takes just one diamond to make a musical sparkle - and Encores! final installment of the 2012 season has several.  With a cornball book by Loos and Fields, silly lyrics by Leo Robin and delicious music by Jule Styne, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes has a rich history of exploding stars into orbit.  In 1949 it introduced Carol Channing to the American lexicon.  In 1953 the movie by the same name propelled Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell's careers into the stratosphere.  This time around, we've got the SMASH *Bombshell*, Megan Hilty (Lorelei Lee) and triple-threat star of the upcoming national tour of Anything Goes, Rachel York (Dorothy Shaw).

Encores! concert renditions are *almost* fully staged.  Books in hand occasionally, but never a missed note or a called line.  The cast aboard the S.S Ile de France is magnificent.  GPB is most surely a dancer's musical - with full-on tap, ballet, and ballroom all packed into several razzle-dazzle numbers in addition such as great vocal numbers as Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend, and I'm Just a Little Girl From Little Rock, and the titular song, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

If I had a vote for the hardest working ensemble in the biz right now, GPB would win hands-down.  Tap dancing can get a crowd to its feet in raucous applause and the tap number with Megan Sikora (Gloria Stark) and Attmore & Grimes (Phillip Attmore and Jared Grimes are their actual names) was nothing short of stupendous.  A well earned standing ovation - and that was just the opening of Act II.  Ms. Hilty tore the roof off the place (encores are a trademark of this show) with 3 encores in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and the last one nearly delayed the show by 3 minutes alone due to the uproarious applause.  And I haven't even discussed the to-die-for bodies of the male dancers (shirts on AND off), the hysterical Robert Lemanteur and his son Louis (Brennan Brown and Steven Boyer) or the genius comedic timing of Deborah Rush as Mrs. Ella Spofford or her elegantly tuneful son, Henry (Aaron Lazar).  And lest we not forget to mention the always-delightful and uber-talented Encores! Orchestra - led by Music Director and Conductor Rob Berman... And on... And on...

Now, the show is not perfect.  Don't get me wrong.  It's just that when you combine talent and an old fashioned good-time with top notch dancing, pitch-perfect singing, and great comedic acting it's hard to complain about structure and connecting a few dots with a show that has a run of less than a week!  It's not about that at Encores!  

Is it Broadway bound?   I doubt it - but it may be the closest we get to SMASH's Bombshell being on Broadway this season or next!  Marc Shaiman & Scott Whitman may indeed have all the songs written as we have heard, but ... pssst... Debra Messing nor Christian Borle are *really* book-writers in real life.  Go figure.

A Little Night Music

A charming and elegant evening at the Walter Kerr Theatre.  I'd never heard anything about the show before i saw it - so i was a blank slate ready to be impressed by Mr. Sondheim and this cast.   And impressed I was.    Catherine Zeta Jones was magnificent.  I won't say her rendition of Send in the Clowns was the best i'd ever heard, but it was solid and heartfelt.  A great actress she is, no matter what the medium.  Angela Lansbury is a gem and it's a pleasure to see her no matter what the medium.   Although she did just get off a run of Blythe Spirit where she owned the entire stage from end to end - this show is a bit different.  She plays the aging matriarch in a wheel chair the entire evening - so dare i say - she could do this one for quite a long time - 8 shows every week!

I did some reading about prior productions of this show - and if i believe what i read - this production was quite elegant - unlike the prior incarnations.  Brought to mind another Sondheim show, Company, also an elegant reincarnation a few years past.

I won't say the show itself is a draw.  It's a bit old fashioned and predictable.  The main draw is Angela and Catherine - for sure.  Aaron Lazar and Erin Davie certainly add to the evening with their charmed performances.   Sondheim's Every Day a Little Death seen live on stage was a treat.

Not sure this one will last beyond Angela's go at it.  Maybe someone can replace Catherine Zeta Jones, but nobody can replace Angela.