Review Roundup: Encores! LADY, BE GOOD Opens at the City Center

Tommy Tune, Colin Donnell, Danny Gardner, Jeff Hiller, Erin Mackey, Patti Murin, Douglas Sills, Jennifer Laura Thompson and Kirsten Wyatt star in George and Ira Gershwin's Lady, Be Good, the opening production of New York City Center's 2015 Encores! season, running for seven performances, last night, February 4, through February 8, 2015.

Lady, Be Good is directed by Mark Brokaw and choreographed by Randy Skinner. Founding Encores! Music Director Rob Fisher returns as Guest Music Director, and has supervised the restoration of the Gershwins' original score.

Lady, Be Good tells the story ofa penniless brother (Danny Gardner) and sister (Patti Murin) who crash a garden party in hopes of some quick nourishment. They resolve to marry for money, but love gets in the way, as it usually does. Before true love wins out, they encounter Mexican gangsters, crooked lawyers, wealthy socialites, and a song-and-dance man with fascinating rhythm (Tommy Tune).

Let's see what the critics had to say...

Charles Isherwood, The New York Times: Amazingly trim and towering at 75, [Tommy Tune] still has the radiance of a performer who gathers warmth from the spotlight. And spreads it, too. Although he's no longer the bravura tap dancer of his prime, when those long limbs spring into motion in the jaunty "Fascinating Rhythm," he remains a wonder to watch. Music ripples through his body as naturally as a breeze stirring leaves on a tree, and you suddenly feel airborne yourself. That magical feeling comes rarely in this likable but only intermittently effervescent revival...Danny Gardner and Patti Murin...give perky, amiable performances that suit the show's wisecracking tone, but they cannot always elevate the material in the way that Mr. Tune, with his natural authority and audience-embracing warmth, does so effortlessly...Despite its consistent inconsequentiality, the production moves along fairly briskly under the direction of Mark Brokaw, with generous dance sequences choreographed by Randy Skinner. The orchestra, conducted by Rob Fisher...gives a sprightly rendition of the score.

Jesse Green, Vulture: True, the bones of Lady, Be Good! are so creaky, they must be held up with strings, but the mounting, and the superb restoration where needed, let you see something fascinating that would hardly be visible otherwise: how the American musical grew into itself...Tommy Tune's character at least had a nominal plot purpose in the original: He was Jeff, the rich guy Susie tries to romance so her brother won't have to marry Margaret Dumont. At Encores!, Jeff has lost even this connection to the story and is now called Professor. They should have just called him Tommy, since that's all you get...His refusal to portray any kind of character but himself is actually immensely enjoyable: It's like having a very tall friend dance for you in your living room, albeit in a garish suit with a bluebird on his boater. And though Tune is more graceful than kinetic these days, and takes a long offstage break while the kids carry on the "Fascinating Rhythm" tapstravaganza, he's a trouper and a pleasure at 75...Randy Skinner's choreography - all new; the originals are lost - is often charming, and the tap routines are great. We also get a chance to meet new performers, like Danny Gardner in the Fred Astaire role, who maintain a line from the past, seemingly in their bodies. Gardner has a debonair but daredevil style, thrillingly off-center, that's a joy to watch even when, as happened at one point, he stumbled. He's also got the right balance of sincerity and insincerity to make the book material work. In that sense he's not only a find for Encores! but a lesson.

Joe Dziemianowicz, New York Daily News: At 91, the gal's still got it. And "Lady, Be Good" is happily flaunting it. George and Ira Gershwin's 1924 Broadway musical, dusted off and polished to a high sheen by the Encores! musical series, packs sparkly singing, twinkle-toed dancing and irresistibly silly good fun -- win, win, win...To pull off this sort of fluff requires perfect pitch. Credit director Mark Brokaw, choreographer Randy Skinner, designers and the whole cast for getting tone just right. Last but not least, there's special guest star Tommy Tune, a tapping skyscraper who adds real star power. In "Lady, Be Good," Tommy bedazzles.

Elisabeth Vincentelli, New York Post: The Encores! series is famous for bringing back musical chestnuts that often haven't roasted on a New York stage in decades. Lo and behold, here comes Tommy Tune!...It's hard to tell who he was playing, because this wackadoo 1924 show doesn't even pretend to make sense. The screwball plot is merely an excuse to plug delicious songs by George and Ira Gershwin. Two of those went to Tune, white teeth a-gleamin' and long legs a-ganglin'. First it was "Fascinating Rhythm," in which he casually sang and tapped before ceding the stage to the dance ensemble -- Randy Skinner, of "42nd Street" fame, did the choreography. In the second act, "Little Jazz Bird" prompted a soft shoe so soft, it appeared to be in slo-mo. This 75-year-old guy was playing it cool. Tune's presence was just one more slightly surreal element in the show, among the merriest, loosest Encores! offerings in recent memory.

Jeremy Gerard, Deadline: Don't expect a commercial transfer from this bit of silliness, lovingly if inconsequentially revived in concert form, even if it gives us the long-overdue return of one of Broadway's most beloved stars:

"In Chinese red from head to toe / Tommy Tune, tan, stole the show / A Gershwin romp that he brought with him / Wrapped in "Fascinating Rhythm" / Tapped a spell at City Center / As he morphed into his mentor / Right before our very eyes / He was, I came to realize / Carol Channing! Same broad smile / Same élan, same lack of guile / Same elastic, limber limbs / Same come-hithers aimed at Hims / Some drenched-in-deepest-sapphire hues / When he returned for Act II's / Rarely sung, barely heard / Loo-oopy "Little Jazz Bird." / We all hope you'll come back soon / Dancing singer Tommy Tune."

Will Friedwald, Wall Street Journal: Other than "Porgy and Bess," few actual Gershwin shows have ever been revived in their original form (although there's no shortage of pastiche productions). The chance to experience this pivotal work as audiences saw it 90 years ago is not to be missed, especially with song-and-dance star Tommy Tune and the amazingly thorough Rob Fisher conducting.

Matt Windman, AM New York: The 1924 George and Ira Gershwin musical "Lady, Be Good" is the sort of unapologetically nonsensical affair where the perennial song and dance man Tommy Tune can just magically materialize in the middle of Acts One and Two and break out into a specialty tap solo. The plot may have stopped for a bit, but it's all good...we are treated to Gershwin standards like "Fascinating Rhythm" and the title song, plus plenty of other great rarities. Tune is joined by a vibrant cast of Broadway pros including Danny Gardner (a dead ringer for a young Astaire), Patti Murin, Douglas Sills, Colin Donnell, Jennifer Laura Thompson and Jeff Hiller. Given that the show's long-lost original orchestrations were meticulously recreated specifically for this production, it would be a crime not to issue a cast recording.

David Finkle, The Huffington Post: What's happening at City Center this weekend is what frequently happens when the Encores! series is in swing: The most entrancing musical number to be seen anywhere in Manhattan is right there on the City Center stage. This frame it's the "Fascinating Rhythm" routine...What makes this showstopper stop the show as it so gloriously does? To begin, it starts with a solo song and dance by Tommy Tune. You read that right. Tommy Tune has been enticed back to the boards, and whoever came up with that idea deserves a big fat bonus. Once the man with stilts for legs completes his one-manning it, he's joined by ten tappers who help him wheel about to Randy Skinner's swanky choreography...Having worn a red suit for his first number, Tune returns in act two sporting a blue suit with a straw hat atop which is affixed a blue bird. This time he has the charm-them-silly task to himself as he sings "Little Jazz Bird" and, when it's time to dance, does boneless things with his arms and legs. This performance is right up there with his first-act magic...Without question director Mark Brokaw and choreographer Skinner have brought this gem back with spirited honor.

Check back for updates!

Photo Credit: Carol Rosegg

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