BWW Reviews: OCPAC Cabaret Series Pays Tribute to CY COLEMAN

Despite being a lesser-known composer to the average joe than, say, Bacharach or Mancini, Cy Coleman irrefutably built a solid, prolific career in popular music, which later led to an even more successful string of hits on the Broadway stage. In what is essentially a biographical history lesson set to his music, BROADWAY UP CLOSE & PERSONAL: A TRIBUTE TO CY COLEMAN—now performing through December 12 at the Orange County Performing Arts Center's Samueli Theater—combines an entertaining cabaret showcase with a truly engrossing symposium teaching Coleman 101.

This appealing format is the brainchild of ASCAP director of musical theatre Michael Kerker, who sits on stage as the night's host and lecturer, à la Inside The Actors Studio's James Lipton. Serving as his guest co-host and co-lecturer for the evening—offering up first-hand knowledge of Coleman's career highlights—is Tony® Award winning, two-time Academy Award®-nominated lyricist David Zippel, whose Broadway debut was CITY OF ANGELS, his collaboration with Coleman and bookwriter Larry Gelbart. On hand to sing selections from Coleman's musical catalogue are three talented Broadway babies: former Bette Midler "Harlette" Jenifer Lewis (Dreamgirls, Hairspray) and Southern California faves Tami Tappan Damiano (Cyrano: the Musical, Miss Saigon, Musical Theatre West's Crazy For You) and Jason Graae (A Grand Night For Singing, Falsettos, Forever Plaid).

Born in New York as Seymour Kaufman in 1929, the jazz and classical piano prodigy eventually played the likes of Carnegie Hall between the ages of six and nine. He later formed the famed Jazz ensemble Cy Coleman Trio before finally branching into popular songwriting, culminating with an extremely successful (but ultimately drama-filled) partnership with lyricist Carolyn Leigh. Leigh was a spunky woman who "likes her drink," Zippel shares. But as a creative pair, Leigh and Coleman wrote many hit pop standards including "Witchcraft" and Tony Bennett's eventual signature tune "The Best Is Yet To Come."

He was also a fixture on Hugh Hefner's Playboy After Dark TV program, which featured the theme song he composed. In fact, in this particular cabaret show, it opens with a vintage black-and-white clip of Coleman behind the piano singing "Witchcraft" from an early episode of the show, back in the era of Mad Men and people in tuxes holding swanky soirées in their living rooms. A self-admitted ladies' man himself, Coleman fit right in.

Coleman's first Broadway show was 1960's Wildcat, a collaboration with Leigh that also showcased the Broadway debut of Lucille Ball and the hit "Hey, Look Me Over." Two years later, Leigh and Coleman collaborated once again for their next musical Little Me, with a book by Neil Simon and choreography by Bob Fosse. Then in 1964, Coleman partnered with Dorothy Fields and created the smash hit Sweet Charity, again re-teaming with Simon and Fosse. This hugely successful show launched hit songs like "Big Spender" and "If My Friends Could See Me Now." Coleman and Fields later created See-Saw before Field's death in 1974. Coleman's other shows include I Love My Wife (1977), On The Twentieth Century (1978, with Betty Comden and Adolph Green), Barnum (1980), and Welcome To The Club (1988).

Coleman's hit streak re-ignited in 1989 with his collaboration with lyricist Zippel on CITY OF ANGELS, a musical inspired by noir films from the 30s and 40s. The critical and commercial success of the musical also marked Coleman's return to his roots in jazz, which later went full-tilt when he re-formed his jazz trio just before his death in 2004 at the age of 75. Before his death, though, he worked on two more hit Broadway musicals: The Will Rogers Follies in 1991 (working with Comden and Green once again) and the unorthodox, prostitute-centric The Life in 1997. [Continues on Page 2]

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Full of fun performances and informative, historical recollections, A TRIBUTE TO CY COLEMAN tries its best to provide a compact summation of Coleman's incredible oeuvre. It's a daunting task, considering the staggering amount of hits under his belt. Many will likely recognize much of his music, but will be pleasantly surprised that Coleman composed it (I myself didn't know he composed "The Best Is Yet To Come"). Yet again, eschewing traditional cabaret conventions with this, OCPAC's third offering in its 2010-2011 Cabaret Series this season, this tribute cabaret certainly delivers. To add context and backstory in between the terrific performances, Kerker and Zippel provide intriguing, sometimes even amusing anecdotes about Coleman, making this cabaret set quite an enjoyable experience.

Coleman is an undeniable genuis, whether cheeky and fun or serious and moving. Zippel, who has worked closely with Coleman right up until his death, explains that Coleman was a musical dramatist—in that he preferred to compose songs that tell a story. In the case of Broadway musicals, Coleman wanted each song to move the story forward more than anything. Without full shows in front of us, Zippel and Kerker provide enough context that after listening to each song, one can tell that Coleman followed this philosophy to the letter.

And thanks to a trio of entertaining performers that individually provide a different flavor of Coleman's style of musicality, the revue felt enough of a starter kit for the Coleman novice. Damiano is perhaps the most chameleon-like of the trio, delivering quirky (in "Nobody Does It Like Me" and "Never") and gorgeously bluesy ("With Every Breath I Take" from CITY OF ANGELS) with effortless ease. Graae provides much of the comic relief, intentional or not. He gamely takes on the frenetic tongue twister from Barnum ("The Museum Song"), coming off more adorable when he flubs a few lyrics during the opening night performance. Diva extraordinaire Lewis takes on Coleman's flirty, ballsy side ("Don't Ask A Lady," the Creole-flavored "Those Hands," and the prostitute's lament "The Oldest Profession" from The Life). The three come together for the finale hits medley that features "Hey Look Me Over," "Real Live Girl," "If My Friends Could See Me Now," and "It's Not Where You Start."

Even Zippel himself is persuaded to pick up the mic to perform his hilariously wicked collaboration with Coleman they simply titled "The Critics' Song," which pokes a bit of fun at me and my critic peers. The song comes from the last show Coleman worked on with Zippel called Pamela's First Musical, a one-act musical featuring a book by the late Wendy Wasserstein. The show was essentially completed by the time of Coleman's death in 2004 and was set to premiere in 2005, but was cancelled due to Wasserstein's tragic death that year. Zippel and director Graciela Daniele continued work on the show, even staging a benefit production in 2008 starring Donna Murphy, Christine Ebersole, and Tommy Tune.

As a fittingly reverent finale to the cabaret, Kerker introduces a rare archival interview he himself conducted with Coleman, which finds Coleman singing a beautiful ballad called "It Started With A Dream" from what will ultimately become his final musical. The trio of Broadway stars provide back up vocals underneath the video footage.

While many might approach this cabaret-and-classroom format with a bit of trepidation, fear not. This TRIBUTE TO CY COLEMAN is wonderfully informative and quite entertaining. Why not get a dash of expert musical theater inside info and education with your vividly-rendered torch songs and story music?

Photos courtesy of the Orange County Performing Arts Center. Top: Cy Coleman. Center: David Zippel.
Lower set, from top: Tami Tappan Damiano, Jason Graae & Jenifer Lewis.

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Tickets to BROADWAY UP CLOSE & PERSONAL: A TRIBUTE TO CY COLEMAN are $72 and are available online at OCPAC.org and in-person or via phone at the Center's Box Office at 714.556.2787. Call ahead for Student/Senior Rush ticket availability.

The Orange County Performing Arts Center's 2010-2011 Cabaret Series continues with Sutton Foster performing January 6 - 9, 2011; and Nathan Gunn performing March 24 - 27, 2011.

For more information, visit www.ocpac.org.

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