Review Roundup: City Center Encores! WHERE'S CHARLEY?

Sebastian Arcelus, Rebecca Luker, Rob McClure, Howard McGillin, Jill Paice and Lauren Worsham lead the cast in Frank Loesser's Where's Charley?, the final New York City Center Encores! production of the 2010-11. Where's Charley? has a book by George Abbott and music and lyrics by Frank Loesser. The show, running March 17 - 20, is directed by John Doyle and choreographed by Alex Sanchez with music direction by Rob Berman.

Where's Charley?, Frank Loesser's first Broadway score, immediately demonstrated the master's easy command of wit and romance, sophistication and high jinks. George Abbott's adaptation of BranDon Thomas's classic college farce Charley's Aunt delivered "Once in Love With Amy," "My Darling, My Darling" and "The New Ashmolean Marching Society" to the hit parade, and launched Loesser into the songwriting stratosphere. The musical opened at the St. James Theater on October 11, 1948, and hit the right chord with theatre goers, eventually playing 792 performances. Does it still strike the same note with today's audiences? Find out!

Charles Isherwood, The New York Times: The most scrumptious English tea, with precisely cut cucumber sandwiches, warm scones, fresh clotted cream and a cake tray piled high, could hardly be more satisfying than the sweet, silly, thoroughly enchanting revival...When an oddity or rarity is on the bill at a concert staging of a musical, you often emerge pleased at having heard the score presented in full but also convinced that the songs would have fared better without the leaden baggage of that exasperating, dated or absurd book. The opposite is the case here.

Scott Brown, New York Magazine: "Frank Loesser's first musical, Where's Charley?, is far from his best. But this show...still stands up as a witty delivery system for some of the composer's definitive tunes. McClure creates a physical vocabulary that's part Little Tramp, part Gene Kelly, and all Rob McClure. (In this, he gets a bold assist from choreographer Alex Sanchez, at the top of his game.)

David Finkle, Huffington Post: Just about every ounce of that surpassing Where's Charley? charm radiates in the Encores! series revival...No argument can be made that Where's Charley? -- which doesn't seem to have been tweaked for this dusting-off -- is one of the indisputably great Broadway musicals, but it remains unfailingly entertaining. Moreover, compared to today's approach to the genre -- when the songs' high quality can be a tertiary concern -- it comes across as little short of a masterpiece.

Joe Dziemianowicz, NY Daily News: Loesser's songs - an ear-tickling array of ballads, marches and waltzes - are gorgeously sung and Alex Sanchez's smooth and stylish dances make big numbers big fun...Director John Doyle is mostly known in New York for his spare actors-as-musicians takes on "Company" and "Sweeney Todd." His straightforward staging of "Charley" brings out every ounce of delicacy and delight.

Steven Suskin, Variety: Encores! closes its 18th season on a high note with this delightful if slight piece from the musical comedy storehouse..."Where's Charley" has little viability as a commercial vehicle just now, unless someone like Matthew Morrison wants to do it. But it perfectly fits the bill for Encores, giving them a sprightly spring showcase with which to celebrate the centennial year of Frank Loesser.

Michael Sommers, New Jersey Newsroom: With any luck, the nifty Encores! concert version of "Where's Charley?" that bowed Thursday for a weekend stint at New York City Center will be recorded. Loesser's score is charming and so is the show. Beautifully sung and brightly acted, the production staged by director John Doyle offers an aptly breezy account of a light-hearted musical that's as refreshing as the first breath of springtime.

 

To post a comment, you must register and login.