|
 By Julio Martinez - Variety
I
LOVE A PIANO:
THE MUSIC OF IRVING BERLIN
... Au
Contraire.. This Show's Born To Dance
This
ditty-crammed tunertuner is one of only two shows
authorized to use the massive Irving Berlin song catalog.
ScripterScripter team of Ray Roderick and Michael
Berkeley infuse this vocal love fest with 64 Berlin
songs, ranging from the forgettable to the sublime.
While not all of the songs prove worthy of revival,
performances by a capable six-person ensemble are
first-rate under the imaginative, swift-paced staging
of helmer-choreographer Roderick. An adroit onstage
band, led by musical director-pianist John Glaudini,
nicely buoys the proceedings.
Using
an upright piano as a centerpiece, the action follows
Berlin's career from his earliest hit, "Alexander's
Ragtime Band." As the piano, with its one bad key,
moves through the 20th century, it becomes the instrument
of record at a sheet music store, a pre-WWI parlor,
a '20s speakeasy, a silent movie theater, a Depression-era
dance hall, a WWII canteen and a 1950s summer-stock
theater.
Along
the way, the ensemble warbles such notable Berlin
standards as "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm," "Blue
Skies," "Cheek to Cheek," "Always," "Change Partners"
and those inevitable Berlin show stoppers "God Bless
America" and "There's No Business Like Show Business."
The
ensemble members are often paired up as the perennial
young hopefuls Jim (Dan Pacheco) and Eileen (Jill
Townsend), egotistical leads George (Kevin Earley)
and Ginger (Kathi Gillmore) and seasoned pros Alex
(Stephen Breithaupt) and Sadie (Julie Dixon Jackson).
Pacheco
and Townsend put their vocal and hoofing abilities
on impressive display with the comical "We're a Couple
of Swells" and "Let's Go Slummin'." Breithaupt and
Jackson score with the contrapuntal "You're Just in
Love." Earley and Gilmore offer a melodious "Isn't
It a Lovely Day" and Berlin's ode to prenuptial conflict,
"Old-Fashioned Wedding." The men unite with a properly
sophisticated "A Pretty Girl Is Just Like a Melody,"
while the ladies take advantage of the canteen setting
to rip through a swinging Andrews Sisters tribute,
"Any Bonds Today."
 Each
ensemble member has ample opportunity to display his
or her solo wares. Particularly notable are Jackson's
haunting renditions of the Ethel Waters' classic "Suppertime"
and the seldom-heard "Russian Lullaby." Earley puts
his effortless range to good use on "The Girl That
I Marry." As the girl left behind by her soldier beau,
Townsend delivers a heartfelt "What'll I Do?"
Showing
an abundance of vocal and physical skills, Pacheco
offers a perfect soldier's lament, "Oh How I Hate
to Get Up in the Morning," and a yearning "White Christmas."
Breithaupt is equally at home with the preening "Top
Hat, White Tie and Tails" and the gently comforting
"Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep." Also moving
smoothly between tempos is Gillmore, who belts out
"Let Yourself Go" and settles quietly into the lovelorn
ballad "Say It Isn't So."
This
overly long production is hampered by a ponderous
seven-scene first act, followed by a much more entertaining
three-scene second act. A more workable musical balance
could be achieved with the elimination of such first-act
clunkers as "Pack Up Your Sins and Go to the Devil,"
"Two Cheers, Instead of Three," "Everybody Step" and
"I'm Getting Tired So I Can Sleep."
Despite
its length, "I Love a Piano" admirably celebrates
the contributions of one of the 20th century's most
gifted and versatile American musical artists.
4/25/2006
Next
Review
|
