Review: Bleier and Pendleton's OLD FRIENDS Such Good Fun at Pangea

Last Tuesday a slew of people packed themselves into the intimate cabaret room at Pangea for the latest iteration of OLD FRIENDS - so many people, in fact, that the actors had a little difficulty making their way to the stage.  It was a joy to note so many people turning up to see a cabaret show, but it wouldn’t be accurate to say it was a surprise.  Barbara Bleier and Austin Pendleton have been doing their cabaret shows for a while, and audiences always show up for them, whatever club they are playing, whatever theme their show, and whatever time of year they put up a new cabaret.  Audiences just love Austin and Barbara.  

Of course, with OLD FRIENDS, it isn’t just Ms. Bleier and Mr. Pendleton that audiences are coming to see because, even though they are the Old Friends headliners, Barbara and Austin have guests, and two truly special guests, to sweeten the deal.  In the classic vein of a Maltby & Shire revue, Old Friends now features the iconic musical theater creators Gretchen Cryer and Richard Maltby Jr., himself, making it a cast of four actors playing a series of vignettes and musical monlogues.  Mr. Maltby and Ms. Cryer have been a part of the Old Friends cast for a while, now, and the four musical storytellers have something really fun, really quite special to give their audiences.  

The mood at Pangea is always comfortable, wonderfully casual, and delightfully cozy, but with this team of show business veterans leading the charge, Old Friends really does feel like a living room concert.  The four actors stroll through the room, taking up their spaces on and off the stage, chatting with the audience, and telling their stories, both musical and otherwise.  And, as a group of octogenarians, these folks have an arsenal of tales to tell, from their personal and professional lives.  There are remembrances from Austin about the early days of Fiddler on the Roof, from Gretchen about the creation of I’m Getting My Act Together… and from Richard about both Starting Here, Starting Now AND Closer Than Ever (not to mention talk of the upcoming third Maltby & Shire revue).  Like a right proper hostess, Ms. Bleier holds her spot from either her cabaret stool or her seat in the front row, presenting her colleagues, leading the evening, and awaiting her next duet with each of her fellow actors.  And these actors (deftly led by musical director, the great Paul Greenwood) have carefully chosen a masterful mix of musical tales to offer their audience.

Naturally, with Mister Maltby and Ms. Cryer in the room, the setlist features a fair amount of their writing, and why not?   But even if they had not created the compositions being offered, the selections are ideally suited to this group of actors.  Each of the songs presented is a one-act play worthy of seasoned storytellers.  Observe the characters when Barbara and Richard act out the relationship woes in “There” or when Gretchen and Paul tell the story of “My Most Important Moment.”  "Lunch With Linda" is a fun character-driven piece, even though Mr. Maltby does all the singing and Ms. Cryer does all the talking - it was a particularly enjoyable vignette.  The ladies get to have fun as a team, telling everyone why “It Ain’t Over” and there is real tenderness between Austin and Gretchen during a performance of her legendary composition (with Nancy Ford), “Old Friend.”  If I may overshare a little (and with utmost respect to Misses Ford and Cryer), the song is not one toward which I have leaned in my lifetime, but after seeing Gretchen Cryer perform the composition, I get it.  Finally, I have come to the “Old Friend” party, and, since Tuesday last, I have been playing the song on a loop on Spotify.  Never mind that it’s a wonderful performance she and Austin are giving - to be in a room to see and hear this creator perform her creation, well, that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?

And on the subject, one should remark on the ovation given to Mr. Maltby after his moving rendition of “If I Sing” from Closer Than Ever.  Here is a lyricist telling a story about a father and a son, about the music and the piano, and about the passage of time and the evolution of the relationship - a story that he, himself, wrote.  It’s safe to say that there were tears shed and wiped away during the March 4th performance because this is a story to which just about everyone can relate.  It was a powerful moment, one worth seeing and worth remembering.

Also powerful was the section of the cabaret in which Austin Pendleton performed “Miracle of Miracles,” his big solo from Fiddler On The Roof, which, of course, was preceded by one of his great stories about the experience (Austin’s stories are always a big draw for any cabaret he is in).  Austin’s original Fiddler journey having been a few decades ago, his point of view during the telling of this musical monologue has changed into something more wistful and internal, as opposed to an outward-projecting Broadway belting number.  It is touching and tender to see and to hear, and when he sang the words, “But of all god’s miracles large and small, the most miraculous one of all, is the one I thought would never be, god has given you to me,” I could not help but think that these are words that audiences and industry members alike should be singing to Austin Pendleton.  

Now, Old Friends is not just a Maltby & Shire/Gretchen Cryer show (though that would be quite a nice evening to be at) - the cast and Mr. Greenwood have included work by some other notable songwriters, specifically for Barbara Bleier.  A gifted storyteller, Ms. Bleier has been given acting opportunities with Jason Robert Brown’s “Hope” and two tunes by Amanda McBroom and Michele Brourman, whose songs seem to fit Bleier like a glove, something she might investigate further.   The inclusion of these compositions gave Barbara a nice corner of the stage to call her own, since she does not arrive to the proceedings with a Fiddler or a Starting Here or an I’m Getting My Act.  This gives her something of her own to bring to the evening, as well as a sense of equity between the actors, these friends both old and new.   And it is the friendship between these four actors and storytellers that bonds the evening together.  There is real affection when they look at each other or hold hands or put their arms around one another during the seventy-five-minute show.  These five strolling players represent what the performing arts of Manhattan should be, and has been, since the early days of their mutual careers, and, together, they are representing the importance of being able to go out and spend a night watching some old timers and old friends, as they continue to tell stories.  After all, telling stories is one of the mainstays of being human, and we need those stories now.  Those stories are alive and well and living at Pangea.

OLD FRIENDS will play Pangea on March 11th (tonight) at 7 pm.   HERE is the link for information and tickets. 

Photos by Stephen Mosher.

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