Review: THE WORLD GOES 'ROUND Revue Spotlights Show Tunes by Kander & Ebb

THE WORLD GOES 'ROUND: The Songs of Kander & Ebb is composed of many well-loved and lesser known Broadway show tunes by the multi Tony Award winning duo of John Kander and Fred Ebb who have created more Broadway showstoppers than anyone - CABARET, CHICAGO, KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN, FUNNY LADY, NEW YORK, NEW YORK and many more. THE WORLD GOES 'ROUND is a stunning song and dance revue celebrating some of Broadway and Hollywood's wittiest, sexiest and most memorable songs that helped launch the careers of such musical legends as Liza Minelli, Chita Rivera and Barbara Streisand.

The beauty of this revue is that it can be done in whatever style chosen by the director, either as just a collection of show tunes or songs interconnected to tell a story of how love makes the world go 'round. The current production at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center, directed by Fred Helsel with musical direction by Gary Poirot and choreography by Becky Castells, does a bit of both by interconnecting the songs so they flow from one to the other ss if we are hearing both sides of each love story.

Featured in the ensemble cast are Nicholas Ferguson, Gabriella Roberts, Michele McRae, Augusto Guardado, Tori Cusack, Sharon Gibson, Vincent Perez, Aileen-Marie Scott, and Stephen Weston. Each performer is a top-notch singer able to belt with the best and harmonize to perfection. Many possess the ballroom dance skills so familiar to audience now through Dancing with the Stars from the Argentine tango to Viennese waltz, as displayed by Tori Cusack and Augusto Guardado in "The Shoes Dance." However, there are times when a lack of emotional connection to the song's content diminished the overall impact. Then again, in this revue we are not seeing the characters from the original musicals but just singers interpreting the songs without telling the entire musical's story.

Accompanied by an extremely talented band of piano, bass, horns and drums, standout numbers in the show include Michele McRae belting out the opening number ""And the World Goes 'Round," "Mr. Cellopane" performed with great class by a white-gloved Nicholas Ferguson in top hat and tails, the very cute duet "The Grass is Always Greener" in which Sharon Gibson and Michele McRae sing about the joys of each other's lives, one a pregnant housewife and the other a fur-clad actress, and every ensemble number which included clever choreography to bring out the humor of each song from "Coffee in a Cardboard Cup," "The Rink" in which everyone sings while roller skating, "Ring Them Bells" in which Sharon Gibson recounts how two neighbors from New York meet and fall in love in Dubrovnik as the ensemble acts out the story as marionettes, and the final medley of "Money, Money," "Cabaret" and "New York, New York." And you will certainly remember the sexy goings-on between Gabriela Roberts and Augusto Guardado in "Arthur in the Afternoon."

This is definitely a great 30-song revue for musical theater lovers!

The Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center presents THE WORLD GOES 'ROUND: The Songs of Kander & Ebb through May 24, 2015. Performances are Friday & Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm. Tickets are $24 for Adults, $20 for Seniors & Students, and $18 for Children and can be purchased by calling the box office at (805) 583-7900 or online at www.simi-arts.org.

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