No, No, Nanette

Despite the fact that an Encores! production lasts a mere 5 performances and the cast assembled barely two weeks prior to begin rehearsals - most - including this one - end up being possibly the best performances on Broadway! No, No, exception here. Penned in 1925 by Otto Harback and Frank Mandel (who ever heard of them?) with Music by Vincent Youmans (him either?) this tale is a showcase of old fashioned musical song and dance.

Headlined by Sandy Duncan, Beth Leval, Shonn Wiley, Michael Berresse, Charles Kimbrough, Mara Davi, and Rosie O'Donnell- this gem was near production quality! Books? Who used one? One might surmise these actors had the time of their life singing and dancing ...and dancing... and dancing... the night away!

Lord knows how old Sandy Duncan (Sue) is these days, but she kicked higher than I could at 18 years old, she looked better than I did at 23, and she tap danced better than people I know who do it for a living. The incomparable Beth Leval and Michael Berresse paired up as husband and wife. Beth (Lucille) tore down the house with The "Where-Has-My-Hubby-Gone-Blues" Blues and Michael (Billy) tore up the stage with his effortless leaps and dance steps in such numbers as Telephone Girlie and You Can Dance with Any Girl and Call of the Sea. Fred Astaire, eat your heart out - you've got tough competition in the uber-adorable and ever-graceful Shonn Wiley (Tom). Cleverly cast in a role choc full of comic relief, Rosie O'Donnell (Pauline) landed each entrance, one-liner, and exit with aplomb.

This show is truly a dancer's showcase. Each of the chorus boys (all adorable) and girls made it all seem simple - including the multiple full cast tap numbers. Truly a treat. Remember - two week's rehearsal, folks. Unbelievable how so many people can be on stage tapping and it always sounded line one single pair of feet. They truly wanted us all to be happy. (I want to be Happy is perhaps the most well known number from this show).

Encores! may represent the "Best Of" when it comes to talent, enthusiasm, and pure enjoyment of the craft. It's not a commercial Broadway run , yet you can see that each cast member truly enjoys every moment of the show. And speaking of "Best of" - an evening at Encores! would not be complete without the incomparable Rob Fisher and the Encores! Orchestra - always a class act located right on stage. And for No, No Nanette - not one, but two grand pianos! Beyond elegant. All those fingers tinkling all those ivories. A perfect match to all those toes and heals a-tappin' on stage. Bravo! Just when you think I'm done with all the complements, I have to mention the costumes - classy, dashy, and always dripping with class. All those flapper girls with the car wash dresses, dripping with sequins - and the dapper chorus boys all in preppy cardigan vests, then swimming suits (the real things) and a classy finish in black tie and tuxes. Never a hair out of place and always a smile on their faces.

I wish i could tell you all to run out and see it, but all that happiness is already faded and the curtain has fallen on the last performance tonight for the City Center Gala. You'll just have to wait until the next one comes along!

A Chorus Line

We all know the story - and many of us have seen the movie. But despite this - the Broadway revival of A Chorus Line is destined to stay around on Broadway for another long run.

The bare stage, the spotlight, the empty theater, the solitary white line painted down the middle of the stage, the dancers, the stories and emotion all add up to... A singular sensation! (ok, i just had to say that!).

Each of the 17 dancers has something to share and each of them makes you feel like the story and the struggle is personally theirs. Many a show has an ensemble cast - and the story within this story is about the very same thing - The desire to make it on "the line". The hopes and dreams not to become "the star", but just to "make it" and then shine thru! This ensemble cast takes you there!

I found myself in awe at how the dancers (we all know they must be TOP notch to have been cast in the show) switch back and forth between the hesitancy and awkward nature of their characters, the tears, the "learning the routines" to the flawless execution of the dance routines in the show numbers. I just have one comment to Bob Alian (the show is still in previews, so changes can officially be made) -- Bring down the mirrors at the end and let the darn cast come out for another bow!

It takes hard work and a lot of rejection before you "get there". The 17 dancers showed us all through their individual stories that this fall's revival of A Chorus Line is going to be "The One"!

A Light in the Piazza