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Backstage West By Les
Spindle
It's remarkable that a formulaic British musical combining the giddy romance
of The Boy Friend with the class-structure satire of Half a Sixpence scored
a major Broadway success in 1986. The 1937 material was spiffed up for its
1985 London revival, then further fussed with when that version traveled
overseas in 1986--first in a Los Angeles tryout, then eastward to Broadway.
This was my first exposure to this show, and it strikes me as a palatable
vehicle for a strong comic actor but not as a memorable musical. The book
(revised by Stephen Fry from the original by L. Arthur Rose and Douglas
Furber) and score (music by Noel Gray, lyrics by Rose and Furber) seldom
rise above the serviceable. Yet Musical Theatre West pulls out all stops
to produce a solid rendition of this slight but entertaining confection.
Much of the Broadway success reportedly rested on the shoulders of the acclaimed Tony-winning Robert Lindsay in the role of pugnacious Cockney ne'er-do-well Bill Snibson, who suddenly finds he is heir to the title and fortune of a deceased earl. Heading the Musical Theatre West cast as Bill is the very capable Wayne Bryan. He's an accomplished singer and dancer, but his strongest contributions are his physical comedy and expert timing in delivering some choice bon mots. Veteran CLO headliner Bets Malone plays Bill's love interest, Sally Smith, who's also from the wrong side of the tracks. Malone is a charmer and shares a wonderful chemistry with Bryan. Their soft-shoe duet to the title song is a highlight, and she lends welcome poignancy to the featherweight material in a couple of rueful love ballads. Brenda Cox scores strongly as Maria, the overbearing duchess determined to turn Bill into a fine gentleman a la Pygmalion and break up his romance with Sally. There's also praiseworthy work from Tracy Lore as the selfish Lady Jacqueline, who's manipulating a betrothal to the reluctant earl-to-be, as well as Robert Machray as the kindly nobleman Tremayne, who becomes Sally's ally, and the entire ensemble.
Director/choreographer Roger Castellano does his customary superb job in staging the numbers, with one curious exception: Aside from Lindsay, the legendary scuttlebutt about this show has to do with a reputed showstopper to end all showstoppers, the toe-tapping dance number "The Lambeth Walk." It's led off by Bill and his ghetto cronies, with the snooty upper-crust bluebloods eventually joining in and everyone leaving the stage and prancing through the auditorium. At Sunday's matinee, the only reason this number stopped the show was because it was time for intermission. While the configuration of this house--long rows with no middle aisle--could be a factor, something else was clearly missing. It's a snappy tune, but the anticipated goose bumps never arrived.
Design-wise, the show is a dream: Michael Gilliam's wonderful lighting effects, B. Modern's colorful costume array, and the charming 1930s-era sets (uncredited). Dennis Castellano's musical direction is lively. Though "Lambeth" proves more of a stroll than a walk, Musical Theatre West otherwise keeps pace with this musical's modest, old-fashioned charms.
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