Review - Where's Charley?: The Guy's Only Doing It For Some Doll

Although I'll admit to not being completely familiar with Cole Porter's See America First and George M. Cohan's The Governor's Son, it's quite possible that Frank Loesser's score for Where's Charley? could be considered the finest Broadway debut for a composer/lyricist who would eventually occupy a place on musical theatre's top tier.

But while other worthy candidates such as Stephen Sondheim's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way To The Forum and Jerry Herman's Milk and Honey have the advantage of familiarity via their original cast albums, Where's Charley?, despite nearly 800 performances, never received a Broadway pressing because of a musicians' strike and its London recording, starring Norman Wisdom, is a rarely available collector's item.

The musical version of BranDon Thomas' Charley's Aunt starred Ray Bolger as a Victorian Oxford lad who disguises himself as his own aunt when he and his roommate are left without a chaperone as their intended fiancés arrive for a visit. George Abbott's book is a sturdy example of the kind of character and plot driven musical comedy he championed so well and the show's popularity was guaranteed when Bolger began encoring his second act soft shoe with an audience sing-a-long of "Once In Love With Amy." But you don't have to be familiar with the rest of the score to recognize similarities between this maiden effort and the trio of classics the songsmith would soon contribute to the stage: Guys and Dolls (very likely the greatest score ever written for a musical comedy), The Most Happy Fella and the somewhat underappreciated How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying.

"The Woman In His Room," where Amy jumps to conclusions about a photograph displayed on Charley's piano, is a terrific comical musical soliloquy that hints at a future Loesser gem, "Adelaide's Lament." Excellent conversational pieces like "We'd Better Get Out Here," where the girls consider the temptation of spending unchaperoned time with their fellas, and "Make a Miracle," where Charley and Amy combine courtship with a glimpse of the technological advances predicted for the 20th Century, suggest future scene-songs like "Sue Me" and "Been a Long Day." The hit song, "Amy," has the same carefree catchiness as another Loesser standard, "Standing on the Corner (Watching All The Girls Go By)" and who can watch the Brazilian ballet that ends act one without being reminded of the Havana scene in Guys and Dolls?

John Doyle's rather straightforward Encores! mounting of Where's Charley? features a charming company of singer/actors who capture the beauty and whimsy of this delightful score. Rob McClure's eccentrically love-sick Charley is certainly in the same vein as Bolger's but, especially when dancing that show-stopping soft shoe, there's the confident muscularity of a Gene Kelly present as well. Lauren Worsham's Amy is adorably girly and flirtatious with a comic knack that makes "The Woman In His Room" another high moment. As their friends, Jack and Kitty, Sebastian Arcelus and Jill Paice handle the more conventional love scenes with warm vocals and youthful sincerity.

But the dazzling moment of the evening occurs when long-time Broadway favorites Rebecca Luker and Howard McGillin play out a brief reunion scene capped by the gracefully nostalgic ballad, "Lovelier Than Ever." McGillin shines with princely romanticism as he tenderly admires a long-ago sweetheart and Luker illuminates the theatre simply by standing still, gazing toward the audience and lofting captivating soprano tones. With Rob Berman's baton leading the full orchestra, it's a few minutes that lift an enjoyably fluffy show into elegant musical theatre.

Photos by Joan Marcus: Top: Lauren Worsham and Rob McClure; Bottom: Howard McGillin and Rebecca Luker.

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"The real thing is, you should be seeing these plays in the Theatre. That's what they were written for. That's where the enjoyment is. Studying them is no enjoyment whatsoever."

-- Tony Randall

The grosses are out for the week ending 3/20/2011 and we've got them all right here in BroadwayWorld.com's grosses section.

Up for the week was: THE ADDAMS FAMILY (14.1%), MARY POPPINS (13.3%), DRIVING MISS DAISY (13.2%), CHICAGO (9.7%), LA CAGE AUX FOLLES (9.3%), MAMMA MIA! (8.8%), JERSEY BOYS (7.8%), ARCADIA (6.5%), CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (5.8%), PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT (5.4%), THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (5.1%), THE LION KING (4.1%), BILLY ELLIOT: THE MUSICAL (4.0%), HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING (3.7%), AMERICAN IDIOT (3.2%), MEMPHIS (2.8%), GOOD PEOPLE (1.3%), THAT CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON (1.0%), THE BOOK OF MORMON (0.6%), RAIN: A TRIBUTE TO THE BEATLES ON BROADWAY (0.4%), SPIDER-MAN TURN OFF THE DARK (0.3%),

Down for the week was: BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGDHAD ZOO (-9.1%), THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST (-4.2%), GHETTO KLOWN (-3.8%), Kathy Griffin WANTS A TONY (-3.4%), LOMBARDI (-3.1%), Million Dollar Quartet (-0.7%), ANYTHING GOES (-0.5%),

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