Review Roundup: I CAN GET IT FOR YOU WHOLESALE Opens At Classic Stage Company

I Can Get It For You Wholesale opens tonight at Classic Stage Company. Read the reviews!

Last seen on Broadway in 1962, I Can Get It For You Wholesale showcases memorable Harold Rome (Pins and Needles) tunes, including the iconic “Miss Marmelstein,” and a book based on his own novel by Jerome Weidman (Fiorello!). CSC’s production features a reimagined book by his son, John Weidman (Assassins), helmed by director Trip Cullman (Choir Boy) and featuring choreography by Ellenore Scott (Funny Girl). Previews began on Tuesday October 10, and opening night is set for Monday October 30.
 
It's 1937 in New York City's Garment District, and shipping clerk Harry Bogen would love to sell you a bill of goods. In this dark musical comedy, Bronx-born Harry must choose between the comfort of community and his own ambitious dreams. He'll have to do whatever it takes to get ahead, and even more to stay there. Better watch your back – sewing needles can be sharp.
 
The cast of I Can Get It For You Wholesale includes Adam Chanler-Berat (CSC’s Assassins) as “Meyer Bushkin,” Eddie Cooper (CSC’s Assassins) as “Tootsie Maltz & Others,” Tony Award winner Santino Fontana (Tootsie), Adam Grupper (Pictures From Home) as “Maurice Pulvermacher,” Darron Hayes (Kimberly Akimbo) as “Clerk & Others,” Greg Hildreth (Company) as “Teddy Asch,” Rebecca Naomi Jones (Oklahoma!) as “Ruthie Rivkin,” Tony Award nominee Judy Kuhn (Fun Home), Tony Award nominee Julia Lester (Into the Woods) as “Miss Marmelstein,” Victor de Paula Rocha (The Sound of Music) as “Sheldon/Young Harry,” Hayley Podschun (Wicked) as “Miss Springer & Others,” Sarah Steele (The Humans) as “Blanche Bushkin,” and Joy Woods (Little Shop of Horrors) as “Martha Mills.” Ephie Aardema (Funny Girl), Jennifer Babiak (Fiddler on the Roof), Billy Cohen (The Band’s Visit), and John Plumpis (The Lion King) serve as understudies.
 
The creative team of I Can Get It For You Wholesale features scenic design by Mark Wendland (Unknown Soldier), costume design by Ann Hould-Ward (CSC’s A Man of No Importance), lighting design by Adam Honoré (CSC’s black odyssey), sound design by Sun Hee Kil (CSC’s A Man of No Importance), score arranged and adapted by David Chase (Back to the Future), and music direction and orchestrations by Jacinth Greywoode (Iron John).  J. Jared Janas (Sweeney Todd) is the Hair, Wig, and Makeup Designer. Bess Marie Glorioso (You Will Get Sick) serves as the Production Stage Manager. Luner Eclipse Productions serves as Production Manager.

Jesse Green, The New York Time: This revisal doesn’t solve those problems, and makes others worse. Harry’s new narration, though smart, exacerbates the stylistic mishmash. At times, the schmaltz is so thick that we seem to be in the Anatevka of “Fiddler on the Roof,” not New York City 30 years later. (Ellenore Scott’s choreography, including an impenetrable prologue ballet, comes off as watered-down Jerome Robbins.) Cullman’s staging, on a minimal tables-and-chairs set by Mark Wendland, darkly lit by Adam Honoré, is often hard to follow, and impoverished when you most want opulence. The climactic fashion show at the end of Act I takes place offstage.

Tim Teeman, Daily Beast: The staging of Harry’s soapy, multiplying betrayals is brisk and beautiful to watch. Mark Wendland’s set of wooden tables and chairs and Ellenore Scott’s choreography consistently signal the bustle of the city, crowded workrooms, and the intimacies of a homey kitchen. Ann Hould-Ward’s period-zinging costumes are just as precisely imagined. I Can Get It For You Wholesale is a generous show, too, with diversions such as a charming number, “Have I Told You Lately?,” in which Harry’s business partner Meyer Bushkin (Adam Chanler-Berat) and his wife Blanche (Sarah Steele) sing a toe-tapping ditty of love and devotion to each other.

Robert Hofler, The Wrap: When Barbra Streisand made her Broadway debut in 1962, her musical of choice, “I Can Get It for You Wholesale” by Jerome Weidman and Harold Rome, did not include the anti-Jewish slur “k–e!” being spit out at the top of the show. It is a masterstroke on the part of the book writer’s son John Weidman (“Pacific Overtures,” “Assassins”) to make that addition, plus a few others changes, to the totally engaging new revival that opened Monday at the Classic Stage Company.

Kyle Turner, New York Theatre Guide: That Wholesale ties itself to Jewish families also serves as an obstacle for a more coherent show. Is it that American industrialism and modernity and Jewish family values are incompatible? Or that Harry simply abandoned those values to assimilate? Regardless, Fontana nails the desperation of wanting to escape where you came from and making that desire work overtime, but he is less charming than hoped. If the character succeeds in convincing everyone (until he can’t) that he’s trustworthy, Harry’s all-consuming drive papers over his appeal.

Frank Scheck, New York Stage Review: And then there’s Julia Lester as Miss Marmelstein, Harry’s loyal assistant. The talented performer, who wowed last season as Little Red Riding Hood in Into the Woods, performs similar magic here, delivering showstopping turns with her “Miss Marmelstein” and lead vocal on the powerful Brechtian song “What Are They Doing to Us Now?” Only 23 years old, Lester clearly has a major career ahead of her. Rome’s score, largely inflected with Jewish folk music influences, is more serviceable than memorable, but it does offer consistent pleasures, including the charming “Have I Told You Lately?” And director Trip Cullman has provided a vibrant staging, although he seems to have inherited his predecessor John Doyle’s penchant for tables and chairs, which mainly comprise Mark Wendland’s scenic design. Indeed, the performers are forced to dodge around and move the furniture so frequently you begin to think they should be earning extra pay as stagehands.

David Finkle, New York Stage Review: Incidentally, there’s an act-two Rome song of much sentiment, “A Gift Today,” that could be a companion to the Sheldon Harnick-Jerry Bock “Sunrise, Sunset” from Fiddler on the Roof. Anyone hearing the former for the first time could instantly think Rome lifted the inspiration from the latter. Only, the latter came first. Which raises a possible helpful thought: Since Fiddler is so often revived, producers may want to think about scheduling I Can Get It for You Wholesale as an appealing change.