Anything Goes

I wanted it to be great.  I really did.  I wanted to walk away from the theater soaking wet - like someone opened a musical theatre fire hydrant all over me in the audience on a hot summer day. Instead, all I got were a few blasts from the sprinkler in each act - all of which wet my leaves, but never got to my roots.

Problem #1 - Joel Grey is mis-cast.  He seemed oddly out of place the entire show.   Problem #2  - The book.  It's utterly stupid.  Stupid books abound, but you gotta compensate somehow.  Problem #3 - Three rousing tap numbers that don't really go anywhere and stand-alone gems do not compensate for the aforementioned problem #2 or #1. I had such high expectations - and they promptly withered and died by 11pm (yes, it's a long show on top of everything else).  

Was Sutton Foster magnificent - absolutely, without a doubt.  She's indeed delicious, delightful and de-lovely!  Her leading man, Colin Donnell, is adorably dashing and debonair and incredibly talented in the song and dance department too. You'll have to wait the entire first act for Anything Goes, the first knock-your-socks-off, full company, full-tilt tap number that brings the house down.  The entire cast is indeed talented and very easy on the eyes, i must admit.  Right after the intermission, you'll get that barn-burner,  Blow, Gabriel, Blow, and then really nothing until the finale.   I especially enjoyed Kathleen Marshall's razzle-dazzle choreography but it felt so isolated and stand-alone-ish.  And I adore John McMartin, but he looked so incredibly lost on the stage all the time.  And sometimes he just disappeared!  There's not much else to report over the rest of the 2H:45M run time aside from a very clever and cute use of a blue spot during Be Like The Blue Bird.  ~Sigh~

Best Leading Actress - No qualms.  Best Musical Revival?  Not a chance.   This ship is more like a row boat in a lake.   I'm going to wait for the concert version with the New York Philharmonic.  Get rid of the story - and focus on all the great song and dance.  Now that would be a ship I'd buy a ticket to sail on!

Promises, Promises

A long time in coming, the first Broadway revival of a 1960's classic.  A Neil Simon book, Burt Bacharah music and Hal David lyrics - how could you go wrong putting this one on?  Well, let me tell you - mis-cast the leads and don't update the book.

It's not like Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth are not capable, they certainly are.  It's not like Rob Ashford is not a talented director, he most certainly is.  The problem is that we've picked "stars" to lead the show instead of the right talent.  Mr. Hayes is a comedic genius - not necessarily a singer - (although i must admit he's got a pretty decent set of pipes).  Kristin Chenoweth could possibly be one of the brightest stars on Broadway, but the role of Fran Kublick - questionable.

The dancers, the sets and lighting are all fantastic.  And if there's one person who steals this show out from under everyone - it's Katie Finneran.  With no more than 20 minutes on stage the entire time, she walks off to a virtual standing ovation right in the middle of the show.  Go figure.

Because this show is such a good romp and a light hearted love story - it's certainly worth seeing and the cast is certainly talented even if mis-cast.  I suspect despite the mixed and luke warm reviews, this one will last a short while.

On the Town

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*