On The Town

It may be just what Broadway needs right now - a lavish, classic, good-'ol song and dance show on the great white way.  Betty Comden and Adolph Green's classic with music by the incomparable Leonard Bernstein has been made fresh again for a new generation of theater-goers.  And by all accounts, this revisal will delight audiences far and wide.  An orchestra of epic proportions plucks, strums, and toots with wild abandon to the gorgeous and lush musical score by Leonard Bernstein while the actors sing and dance - (do they ever) - to the highest of heights.

The über dreamy Tony Yazbeck helms the cast of over 40 characters as Gabey along with the deliciously sexy Jay Armstrong Johnson (Chip) and Clyde Alves (Ozzie) - 3 sailors let loose on New York City in 1944 on a 24 hour leave with the hopes of each finding a dame.  It's fun, fresh, wholesome, and naughty all at the same time.  The hilarious Jackie Hoffman takes on the role of Maude Dilly (and a little old lady, and several nightclub stars) with brilliant comedic genius.  I am pretty sure much of the revisal work was done in her sketch comedy-like scenes to wild success.  Megan Fairchild (Ivy, Miss Turnstiles), Alysha Umphress (Hildy, the taxi driver), and Elizabeth Stanley (Claire DeLoone) each portray one of the dames - each different, each perfectly cast.  This was Ms. Fairchild's Broadway debut as she is normally a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet.  Ms Umphress is a Broadway veteran but this just may be her break-out role as she knocks Hildy out of the park.

Brilliant scenic design (Beowulf Borritt) and lit (Jason Lyons)  - it is a near perfect picture of the boys in brilliant white sailor suits surrounded by a pastiche of technicolor city dwellers.  Projections are getting near indeterminable from actual scenery and the result is simply marvelous.   This show is significantly stilted toward a ballet and none better than Mr. Yazbeck and Ms Fairchild to execute each jump and lift with effortless aplomb.  I'm pretty sure Jerome Robbins (original idea and choreography) would be pleased with the outcome over 70 years later.  Most likely Comden and Green would also be pleased with Robert Cary's and Jonathan Tolins' book freshening updates.

The theater itself previously housed quite possibly the most different type of show (Spiderman) prior to this - so much so that one could speculate it required a name change back to its original - The Lyric.

Classic material in an old fashioned Broadway house with deliciously fresh talent - it certainly makes for one helluva show!

Cry Baby

James Synder - you ROCK. Well, more importantly - the entire cast ROCKS! Cry Baby, the latest new musical to arrive on the scene at New York's Marriott Marquis Theater threatens to rock the town to the bedrock. Cry Baby is a musical (Book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, Songs by David Javerbaum and Adam Schlesinger) based on the film of the same name which was written and directed by John Waters. Needless to say, there are some boundaries to be pushed.

First and foremost - the entire cast simply rocks the house from the opening number to the final ultimo. No stage is better equipped to fly in and out the dazzling sets to support all the toe tappin' numbers. Dancing, dancing, and more dancing. That ensemble couldn't have kicked higher and tapped harder. Speaking of hard... those dancing boys had rock hard kick ass bods literally dripping with sweat and oozing sex. Someone bring me a glass of cold water! Wow-za!

I think the critics will say - it's a musical without it's own identity. It doesn't seem to have any memorable numbers - even though each of the numbers is a toe-tapping Broadway delight. It's sort of a mix between Grease and Oklahoma; between Hairspray and Spring Awakening; between The Music Man and Jersey Boys - - I think you get the idea. It's classically structured - two romantic leads, two comedic leads with a chorus of talented actors. The story itself is a contrast between the "good kids" and the "bad kids". So hence you get both worlds colliding on stage - A barber shop quartet followed by a James Brown-esque rock number followed by a West Side Story dance number. This one has it all. Time will only tell if it has the staying power to keep all those things alive under it's own unique brand.

All this typing and I have not gotten to one of the best parts - Harriet Harris! She's a delight as Mrs. Vernon-Wiliams and the proof of her love from the audience is her complete butchering of a musical number which still gets raucous applause! She's a comedic genius - ala Lucille Ball or Ethel Mertz!

Onto the young ones (most everyone else is!). Christopher Hanke makes the cute preppy boy, Baldwin, come alive - almost walking on air in those Sperry's. James Synder as Cry Baby, commands the stage in his Broadway debut. I'd love a pair of those painted on Jeans. Fierce! Dupree, a "what James Brown might have been like as a kid" character is played brilliantly by Chester Gregory II. Those shrill ooooh's and aaaahh's get you hootin' and hollerin' every time. Now there are too many ensemble names to mantion here, but this review would not be complete without a mention of the absolutely drop dead gorgeous, uber-talented dancing "bad boy" dancers - Marty Lawson, Charlie Sutton, and Spencer Liff!

Torrents of music - Lynne Shankel took command of the Orchestra from the pit right from the start. Plenty of toe-tapping, bob your head and clap your hands numbers, clever comedy, and no shortage of eye candy will keep the crowds entertained for a while. Swing on by and get your fill!

Company

Antoinette Perry - get ready for this one! Company - Best Revival of a Musical- 2007 Season!! Hands down, a top notch performance all around. Raul Esparza - Best Actor in a Musical. A classy, elegant, sophisticated and entertaining look at marital bliss (and not so bliss) through the eyes of a friend and bachelor.

John Doyle - fresh off another Sondheim piece - Sweeney Todd - has pulled off another total re-creation of a musical. Actors on stage with musical instruments - this time a shiny black grand piano center stage with all the complementing instruments carried by the cast. It's similar in concept, but different enough in delivery and content from to be fresh. Doyle didn't have to sacrifice (as he did in Sweeney) any key stage elements in this already "concert-like, ensemble piece.


Sondheim's music is fast-paced, witty, often discordant (lots of sharps and flats!) and it's wordy and full of story. Bobby's (Raul Esparza) vocal performance could not have been better. He finally blossoms at the end of the story, symbolically by taking up an instrument for the first time and singing the 11 O'clock number - "Being Alive" like no one I've ever heard before.

Just as you would suspect, it's the same music, but all done with a unique flair - never sounding like the original - just like a pop star who re-makes an old cover tune. Joanne puts a clever spin on "The Ladies Who Lunch" (by the way - i didn't mention who was actually sitting next to me in the audience - none other than Elaine Stritch, the original Joanne!). Amy flawlessly fired off "Getting Married Today" (it's sung in triple time- meaning it sounds like the disclaimer at the end of a car advertisement). Robert and the entire cast ushers in Act II with a rousing rendition of "Side by Side" - showcasing their vocal, instrumental, dancing, and acting abilities!

Despite it's 1970's origins- you'd never know it in this performance. It's relevant and current and fresh - get your running shoes on... cause this one's a "run don't walk" over at the Ethel Barrymore Theater on West 47th! I think Miss Perry is going to like this one next July!