Broadway by the Year: 1947

Two years after World War II ended, as Scott Siegel explained at the premiere of Broadway by the Year's eighth season, Americans were eager to lose them self in fantasy. It is no surprise, then, that the two most famous musicals of that year took audiences into fantasy realms of leprechauns, vanishing villages, pots of gold and wishes coming true. But there were more musicals in 1947 than Finian's Rainbow and Brigadoon, as Scott Siegel and The Broadway Musicals of 1947 showed its packed audience on Monday, a fantastic evening in every sense of the word.

Backed, as ever, by Ross Patterson's Little Big Band, Howard McGillin opened the show with a bright "Almost Like Being in Love," which led into Scott Siegel conducting a chorus of "Howdy Doody Time" from the TV program that also debuted that year.  (This is probably the first and last time that song has ever been performed on the Town Hall stage. We can but hope, anyway.) Eddie Korbich, currently playing a dancing seagull in The Little Mermaid, sang an adorably charming "When I'm Not Near The Girl I Love" from Finian's Rainbow, executing some gracefully fluid choreography. Meredith Patterson, Erin Crouch and Kristen Beth Williams sang "Security" from Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn's High Button Shoes in a tight Andrews-Sisters-esque harmony, with equally tight choreography by the evening's director, Jeffry Denman. Marc Kudish sang a gently sweet "A Fellow Needs a Girl" from Rodgers and Hammerstein's Allegro, and Kerry O'Malley sang a beautifully poignant "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?" Denman and Patterson danced a bright "The Heather on the Hill," the evening's first number from Brigadoon, also choreographed by Denman.

Donna Lynne Champlin, most famous for her work in musical comedy, showed off a new layer to her talents with "If It Were Easy to Do" from Angel in the Wings, a soulful torch song that she performed with powerful intensity. (When Funny Girl returns to Broadway, Ms. Champlin should be first on the list to play Fanny.) Eddie Korbich balanced the poignancy with an adorable "The Thousand Island Song" from the same show, and Kudisch serenaded Kristen Beth Williams with a seductively wolfish "Wouldn't You Like to Be On Broadway" from Kurt Weill and Langston Hughes' Street Scene.

BBTY favorite Noah Racey tap-danced to a hot bossa nova arrangement of the classic "Old Devil Moon," creating as much intensity as romantic whimsy with the combination of song and dance. And three songs, performed without microphones in the great BBTY/Unplugged tradition, formed a lovely triptych of loneliness and connection, and ended the first act: "Lonely House," performed by Howard McGillin, and "What Good Would the Moon Be?," performed by Christiane Noll, both from Street Scene, and a lively and ribald "Go Home With Bonnie Jean" from Brigadoon, performed by Alexander Gemignani and all the men. (Is it just me, or does Gemignani's voice get better with every show he does?)

The men started Act Two in the exact poses with which the ended Act One (and no one thought to mutter, "This plum is too ripe?" For shame!), and were quickly overwhelmed and driven offstage by Erin Crouch and Kristen Beth Williams, who serenaded Alex with "Papa, Won't You Dance With Me?" from High Button Shoes. Young Kendrick Jones, already a Town Hall veteran and not yet out of school, performed a self-choreographed tap dance to "Cuckoo Cheena" from Louisiana Lady that was part Fred Astaire, part Gene Kelly, part Savion Glover, and all Jones. (Mr. Jones is living proof that the art of tap dancing is in good hands for at least another generation.)

Donna Lynne Champlin returned to sing "So Far" from Allegro, and was followed by two more Unplugged numbers: a rich "From This Day On" performed by McGillin and Noll, and a soaring "Come to Me, Bend to Me" performed by Gemingani, both from Brigadoon. Jeffry Denman and Meredith Patterson returned to do the one uptempo selection from Street Scene, a fast-paced "Moon-Faced, Starry-Eyed" with choreography by Denman.

When Angel in the Wings first opened, a 21-year-old future star performed the popular song "Civilization" in the show. To honor that star to be, Scott Siegel brought out Nightlife Award winner Christine Pedi to do her interpretation of the song… then interrupted her to ask that she sing the song in a Congolese accent… then interrupted her again to remind her that the 21-year-old in question was Elaine Stritch. And so it was that Christine Pedi asked Mr. Patterson to play "in the key of Stritch," and performed the number just as Elaine might have done it sixty years ago. Naturally, she brought down the house.

Kerry O'Malley was saddled with the unenviable task of following that showstopper, but did a lovely job with "The Gentleman is a Dope" from Allegro, nicely conveying equal measures of frustration and longing. Denman and Racey then stopped the show again with a slick "Necessity" from Finian's Rainbow, which they co-choreographed and tap-danced to with cool, striking precision.

Two unmiked songs from Music in my Heart, a flop musical with a score by Tchaikovski (!), followed: "The Balalaika Serenade," performed with gentle intensity by Kudisch, and a gorgeous a cappella choral arrangement of "While There's a Song to Sing." In between them was a poignant "There But For You Go I" from Brigadoon, performed by Eddie Korbich as he sang it at Broadway Unplugged two years ago.

After the company, led by Donna Lynne Champlin, sang a lovely and heartfelt "Look to the Rainbow," some audience members began to file out, hoping to catch the 10:42 to Parsippany, perhaps. Regardless of how gauche it is to leave a concert before it is over, these poor souls really did themselves a disservice this time: as a grand finale, the six primary dancers launched into a fierce "That Great Come and Get It Day" from Finian's Rainbow. In the middle of the number, Champlin awkwardly began to join the dancing, tapping her feet with increasing style until she was stomping away with the rest of them. Turns out Donna Lynne is an award-winning tap dancer, and the revelation of another talent was a great final surprise to the evening.

Moral of story: never, ever leave before the show is completely over. Ever.