BWW Reviews: Broadway by the Year: 1948

The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that the most recent edition of Broadway by the Year was a secret plot by Scott and Barbara Siegel to spark new revivals of some classic musicals that haven't been on the main stem in years. (Okay, the last revival of Kiss Me, Kate was 1999, but if Gypsy and La Cage can come back every five years, we're well overdue for a new infusion of Porter!) The combination of song selections and singers at last Monday's Town Hall concert was just too strong to be anything else.

'Cause, think about it: Wouldn't William Michals be a perfect FrEd Graham in Kiss Me, Kate? He's got the voice, the comic timing and the sense of pure theatricality the role needs. And, as he demonstrated at the concert, he can pull off a very witty "Where is the Life That Late I Led?," a very poignant "So In Love" and a powerful "Were Thine That Special Face" (unmiked, thanks very much) with equal skill. While it might not be traditional casting, Jeffry Denman and Bobby Steggert (currently playing partners of a very different sort in Yank!) proved that they can play the two gangsters with their hilariously dry "Brush Up Your Shakespeare"-and, bless 'em, they did the whole thing. Every verse. With full Denman choreography. Brilliant. And Erin Denman could play Lois/Bianca-granted, the character doesn't sing "Too Darn Hot" in the show, but her rendition of the song with her husband (choreographed by both of them) was wonderfully exhilarating. (Alas, Ms. Denman didn't sing "Always True to You in my Fashion"...next time, maybe?)

Then there's Where's Charley, which is screaming, begging  and pleading for an Encores! revival. Noah Racey can revive his performance from the Goodspeed production (if his rendition of "Once in Love with Amy" doesn't make you grin, nothing will) and Josh Grisetti and Steggert can play any of the other young male leads in the show-their "New Ashmolean Marching Society and Students' Conservatory Band" was adorable (especially the audience-participation kazoo-band...you had to be there), and Grisetti's "Make a Miracle" duet with Farah Alvin (a perfect Amy!) was equally charming and funny. Opera star John Easterlin could play Mr. Spettigue or Sir Francis-his "Pernambuco" was very very.

Love Life was a not-so-successful collaboration between two theatrical legends-Kurt Weill and Alan  Jay Lerner-that pioneered the "concept musical." While it might not be as strong as some of Weill and Lerner's other works, it could also benefit from an Encores! revival. Young Kristin Dausch, who owned the stage with the torchy "Economics" and "Mr. Right," would be an excellent star, or maybe Alvin and Steggert could play the ageless couple-their rendition of the original version of "I Remember It Well" (years before it was reworked for Gigi) was very sweet and lovely. Alvin's "Is It Him or Is It Me?," meanwhile, was gorgeous and heartbreaking.

Okay, not every show represented in the concert desperately needs a revival, but many of the songs from less-famous musicals were still strong. Josh Grisetti sang a grin-inducing "Rhode Island is Famous for You" from Inside USA; Melissa Manchester (yes, that Melissa Manchester!) sang a jazzy "From This Moment On" from Kiss Me, Kate; Steggert sang a lovely and lyrical "Nobody's Heart but Mine" from As The Girls Go; and John Easterlin again proved his comic skills with (again, unamplified) "Schraffts" from Make Mine Manhattan. 

 

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