Review: The HIGH SPIRITS 60th Anniversary Concert at 54 Below Was a Gem

Walter Willison’s concert production of High Spirits on Monday, January 6, 2025 at 54 Below, was delightful. The occasion was the 60th anniversary of High Spirits, perhaps one of the most bizarre musicals of the 20th century, with music by Hugh Martin (best known for writing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”) and lyrics by Timothy Grey, adapted from a Noel Coward work. Willison has a wonderful gift for putting together semi-staged concert readings of rare gems like this – the Grand Hotel Reunion concert, for instance. He noted at the end that he focuses on shows he has a personal connection to (he was in the 1965 West Coast Premiere of High Spirits), and his love for this odd little musical shone through.

Willison cast the concert as a backer’s audition, with himself playing lyricist Timothy Gray and Music Director Dennis Buck playing composer Hugh Martin. This clever device allowed him to weave a little bit of musical theater history and explanation of the show in throughout the concert without feeling too explanatory. As Gray, Willison explained the origins of High Spirits: Martin and Gray loved Noel Coward’s play Blithe Spirit and wanted to adapt it to a musical, but they were sure he’d say no, so they decided to write the score on spec and present it to him. Coward loved their work, and the rest is history.

The concert featured a superbly talented cast of performers to play the original cast, with Ann Kittredge as Louise Troy playing Ruth, Judy Kaye as Beatrice Lillie playing Madame Arcati, Willison himself as Charles Condomine, and Christine Andreas playing Tammy Grimes as Elvira, Charles's deceased first wife. The basic plot of the show is this: psychic Madame Arcati is called on to perform a séance, as a lark. The lark turns out to be not so funny when Charles accidentally summons his late wife, Elvira. His second wife Ruth already felt insecure and in competition with Elvira (as shown in “Was She Prettier Than I?”, which Kittredge sang tenderly, the character's vulnerbility showing through). Once Elvira is unleashed, all hell breaks loose. Andreas perfectly embodies the insouciant ghost, who becomes intent on having Charles for herself. She knocked “You’d Better Love Me” out of the park with her rich voice, acting like she’s been locked away fo years and needs to use every fiber of her being to get this man’s love and attention now while she has the chance. As a standard, the song is gorgeous; in the context of the show, it borders on ridiculous; when she says she might disappear, she means it literally. Andreas manages to perform the song on both levels, both serious and being subtly funny; her eyebrow raised a fraction of an inch and a tiny hint of a smile did miles.

Willison and Kittredge have undeniable chemistry, too, as the other half of the love triangle, standing out on numbers like the lightly comedic “Where Is the Man I Married.” Elvira and Ruth gang up on Charles in the funny “What in the World Did You Want?” The comedy throughout is understated, in that clipped Noel Coward style, but there were some genuine laugh out loud lines in the show. Judy Kaye shows off her character acting skills on Madame Arcati, the eccentric psychic, getting some of the funniest songs in the show, like “Something Is Coming to Tea.” Kaye is an icon, and she devours the role, getting the over-the-top character just right. The entire ensemble was quite talented: Nicholas B. Cloutier, Jaxon McKay, Zoe Parrish and Sophia Tzougros stepped into various roles, including the Beatniks accompanying Madame Arcati.

Willison directed the show himself, along with assistant director Zoe Parrish and associate director Jennifer Bassey. Willison trimmed the show carefully, presenting the entire score and a selection of scenes, reading summaries of what happened in between and giving us just enough to get what we needed to know, and leading us right to the show's bizarre, yet fitting, ending. The show was unusually long for a 54 Below concert, running just under two hours, but the audience was captivated throughout.

At the end of the show, Willison brought up a special guest, Adrienne Angel from the original Broadway cast, to sing “Was She Prettier Than I?” She played Ruth in the 1965 production of the show Willison was in, and she’s still got it – 60 years later! The entire cast rounded out the show with a rousing “You’d Better Love Me,” sending the audience out into the cold Manhattan night with high spirits.

As a fan of "forgotten" musicals, I look forward to seeing what Willison concocts next.

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Header photo credit: Maryann Lopinto

Follow Walter Willison on Instagram @TheWalterWillison

Find more upcoming shows at 54 Below on their website.

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