CABIN IN THE SKY: Rarely Produced Vernon Duke Musical Gets the Golden Touch at Encores!

Even talented Tony winners LaChanze and Chuck Cooper and Tony nominee Norm Lewis take a back seat to the stunning choreography and choral work in the Encores! production of the 1940 Vernon Duke/John Latouche musical Cabin In The Sky at New York City Center.

Who, for instance, could have predicted that a performance of the traditional spiritual “Dry Bones” (you know it: Toe bone connected to the foot bone/foot bone connected to the heel bone) would be the showstopper over the enduring standard “Taking A Chance On Love?” But it most certainly is, thanks to Linda Twine’s glorious vocal arrangement, Camille A. Brown’s choreography, and a cast that pulls it all together with such precision, you’d think they’d had a year to rehearse instead of the 10 days that is typical of an Encores! presentation. 

Cabin In The Sky, with its all-African American cast, was never a big hit.  It had a decent run of 156 performances on Broadway in 1940/41, with direction and choreography by George Balanchine and featuring Ethel Waters as its star.  Two years later, it was made into a film with Ms. Waters reprising her central role. (The movie co-starred Eddie ‘Rochester’ Anderson and Lena Horne).

The show is a parable about Good versus Evil, a struggle between God and Satan for the soul of Little Joe, a weak-willed man for whom the temptations of gambling, drink, and womanizing are too alluring for him to ignore. When Joe is killed in a fight, and just as Satan’s minions are about to haul his soul to hell, the heart-rending prayers of his loving and godly wife Petunia lead to a heavenly reprieve. In order to win his way through the Pearly Gates, Joe must redeem himself within six months, though he will have no knowledge of the intervention or the conditions. Throughout the show, Satan’s team and the Lord’s team coach from the sidelines. 

The Encores! production stars LaChanze (Tony winner for her role as Celie in the original Broadway production of The Color Purple) as Petunia; Michael Potts (The Book of Mormon on Broadway) as Little Joe; and Carly Hughes (replacement Leading Player in the hit revival of Pippin) as the sultry temptress Georgia Brown, Lena Horne’s role in the movie.  Chuck Cooper is Satan’s son, charged with capturing Little Joe’s soul, and Norm Lewis is The Lord’s General.  Cooper and Lewis are surrounded by their respective supporters; the Devil’s gang are all in red, and the Lord’s cheerleaders are in blue. Karen Perry’s costumes and Ken Billington’s lighting design help to keep each side well defined, even as they move about the stage. 

The lightweight banter (“the asbestos chariot is waiting,” Cooper’s character razzes the dying Little Joe), Ruben Santiago-Hudson’s snappy directing, and the dancing and singing by a very talented company elevate what could very well have been a clunky production of a show that eschews subtlety in its simple plot. The score, orchestrated for the production by the great Jonathan Tunick from an extant piano version, contains a mix of numbers – some forgettable, some that feel oddly shoe-horned into the show, and some that are real gems. One of the latter is the well-known “Taking A Chance On Love,” which LaChanze belts out at full throttle (though her voice was a little raggy at the performance I attended).  She also does a fine job with “Happiness Is A Thing Called Joe,” and she sizzles with a song called “Savannah” in a scene in which Petunia – disgusted with what she believes to be Joe’s backsliding – gets back at him by vamping it up at a nightclub. Carly Hughes matches LaChanza sizzle for sizzle with her performance of “Honey in the Honeycomb.” 

The excellent on-stage orchestra, a hallmark of every Encores! production, performs masterfully under the highly competent hand of music director Rob Berman, who also contributed to the vocal arrangements. But truly, it is the dancing and the singing by the ensemble that bring the gleam to this old musical, and it is there where the creative team has done its strongest work. Camille A. Brown, the choreographer, brings out a graceful strength in the dancers, reminiscent of her work with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. And while “Dry Bones” is the stunner of the evening, the chorus does a majestic job of performing another spiritual, “Wade In The Water,” and provides first-rate harmonies on Vernon Duke's swing-inspired songs. 

Other than renting the movie, it is unlikely you will see another staged production of Cabin In The Sky any time in near future, so catch it while you can. The run ends Sunday night. 

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LADY, BE GOOD: Lady, Be Terrific, More Like

The wonder that is Encores! tonight opens its 22^nd season at City Center by doing what it does best, offering up a glorious five-performance revival of the rarely seen Lady, Be Good, the George and Ira Gershwin musical that last appeared on Broadway in 1924, where it ran for 330 performances and starred a pair of hoofers who went by the name of Fred and Adele Astaire. 

The production is about as bouncy and bubbly as any you are likely to see these days, even with its paper-thin plot (original book by Guy Bolton and Fred Thompson) that is frequently interrupted by unrelated specialty acts—a vaudeville holdover that even in its time was starting to disappear in favor of stronger storylines (Showboat was only two years away). But when the plot steps aside for a couple of production numbers performed by the likes of the legendary Tommy Tune, who could possibly complain? 

What there is of a plot tells the story of a brother and sister, Dick and Susie Trevor, who find themselves out on the street merely because they haven’t paid the rent for 18 months. Dick (Danny Gardner) decides he will get them out of their predicament by marrying a wealthy heiress (Jennifer Laura Thompson) who has eyes for him, despite the fact that he is in love with the equally penniless Shirley (Erin Mackey). 

For her part, Susie (Patti Murin) falls into a scheme by which she will pretend to be the Mexican widow of the presumed-to-be dead Jack Robinson (Colin Donnell) so that she can get the inheritance. There is a lot of running around and silliness, and the requisite happy ending, of course. But, really, all of it is in the service of one of Encores’ best choreographed evenings (thanks to Randy Skinner and a very talented ensemble) and a whole trunkful of Gershwin numbers, starting with the show’s two bonafide and enduring hits, the title song and "Fascinating Rhythm."

Given that the show was written around the talents of the Astaire siblings, you can bet there are plenty of opportunities for Mr. Gardner and Ms. Murin to show their stuff.  Performing together, with other partners, or by themselves, both are outstanding dancers, and Gardner—dressed in white tie and tails—does a show-stopping tap number at the top of Act II. Truly, if anyone does a musical about Fred and Adele, these two should be high on their list to take on the roles.   

Also stopping the show is Tommy Tune, that six-foot-six bundle of dynamite, who, at 75, still can tap with the best of them. In Act I, he comes out all dressed in scarlet to perform “Fascinating Rhythm,” and in Act II, there he is again all in blue, with “Little Jazz Bird.” What a crowd-pleasing charmer he is!

The production is replete with top-notch performances, including Kristen Wyatt and Jeff Hiller as a wacky couple, and Douglas Sills as the underhanded attorney ("I'm not a quack," he bridles. "I'm a shyster!") who masterminds Susie’s impersonation of “Senorita Juanita.”

Encores! rightfully prides itself on getting the music right. In this case, diligent digging uncovered only a handful of songs for which there were extant orchestrations (by the likes of Max Steiner and Robert Russell Bennett). Rob Fisher,  Encores’ founding music director, used these to guide the creation of new orchestrations. He also serves as guest conductor of the excellent orchestra, which spotlights a pair of exceptionally talented pianists, Chris Fenwick and Greg Anthony, performing "Fascinating Rhythm" and "Lady, Be Good" as in-the-spotlight specialty numbers.

Thumbs up and three cheers to director Mark Brokaw and to all involved in putting together this joyous production. This Lady is more than just good; she is terrific!

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‘Superman,’ ‘Donnybrook,’ and ‘Happy Birthday': Splendid Revivals Brighten A Lackluster Season

While we are waiting for the damp wood of the 2012-2013 theater season to catch fire, I would like to send a shout-out to a trio of delightful shows from the past that are currently on tap in revivals.

The first of these, It’s A Bird…It’s A Plane…It’s Superman!, unfortunately ends tonight at City Center after a brief but glorious run as part of the Encores! series of semi-staged presentations of seldom-seen musicals.

An Encores! show is not always a sure bet; sometimes there is a very good reason why a musical has pretty much disappeared since it originally saw the light of day.  But when everything comes together—as has happened with this mounting of Superman—the result is a feast for the famished musical theater-goer.

If you are reading this, it is likely you are aware of the praise that has been heaped upon Superman, with music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Lee Adams.  I can only add my own voice to the glowing reviews, along with the hope that this show will find a post-Encores! life elsewhere, possibly at an Off Broadway house.  One sign of hope:  Sitting two rows in front of me was Hal Prince, who had directed the original.  Might he be thinking of making another go of it? 

The decade of the 1960s was a busy time for the team of Strouse and Adams, with Bye Bye Birdie (1960) and Golden Boy (1964), both of which had successful runs (607 and 568 performances, respectively), as well as the problematic All American (1962, 80 performances) and It’s A Bird…It’s A Plane…It’s Superman! (1966, 129 performances).

Superman was generally well received by the critics at the time, and it garnered Tony nominations for three of its cast members, but it simply did not catch on.

Others who are better at 20-20 hindsight than I have speculated that the show, based as it was on a comic book, was not clear as to whether its target audience was children or grownups.  However, Broadway had already seen a successful production of Li’l Abner a decade earlier, and  Annie and Spider-Man:  Turn Off The Dark would not have trouble finding audiences down the road. So, Superman's lack of success remains a mystery.

As it happens, I saw the 1966 Superman and enjoyed it immensely.  The original cast recording has been a favorite ever since—due in no small part to the wonderful and intricate orchestrations by Eddie Sauter.  Sauter had been the musical arranger for Benny Goodman and also orchestrated a number of Broadway shows, including another of my favorites, The Apple Tree, which appeared the same year as Superman. 

Whatever else you get from an Encores! event, you are guaranteed a full orchestra, playing the original orchestrations.  And with Superman, the orchestra, under the direction of Rob Berman, has never sounded better. 

But the joys to be found in this production did not begin and end with the orchestra.  Everything came together like magic.  The cast was uniformly strong, starting with Edward Watts and Jenny Powers in the lead roles of Superman/Clark Kent and Lois Lane, and Will Swenson and David Pittu as the chief villains.  Mr. Pittu was marvelous in the role of the resentful ten-time Nobel prize-losing physicist, and when he and Mr. Swenson performed their duet, “You’ve Got What I Need,” in front of a curtain of shimmering streamers, it was pure comic bliss.  I don’t remember seeing such a grand pas de deux between two men since Harvey Fierstein and Dick Latessa tripped the light fantastic in Hairspray. 

Kudos to director John Rando, and, indeed, to everyone involved.  Everything from the bright comic book set design (John Lee Beatty is identified as the scenic consultant), to the lighting (Ken Billington), to the costumes (Paul Tazewell), to the just-right ‘60s-style choreography (Joshua Bergasse) was spot-on perfection.

Encores! shows are produced with very limited rehearsal time and a very tight budget.  One expects to see cast members clutching and referring to their scripts, and, even occasionally dropping a lyric or missing a note.  I saw Superman at its very first public performance, an invited dress rehearsal, and there was not a script to be seen or miscue to be heard.  Indeed, at the very end, Mr. Watts celebrated on behalf of the entire cast by grabbing a half dozen copies of the script and tossing them into the air in a well-earned gesture of triumph.

This is one Encores! show that deserves an encore.

                         ****************

Even if you missed Superman during its short run, you still have time to catch two other shows from the past that are having impressive revivals.

Dee-lightful is the word for The Irish Rep’s presentation of the 1961 Johnny Burke musical, Donnybrook!, which, like Superman, has lived on via its original cast recording.  Thanks to director Charlotte Moore;  to James Noone, a miracle worker of a set designer, who has done amazing things with the postage stamp of a stage; and to solid performances by a talented ensemble of actors.  Donnybrook! is a charmer of a show.

Finally, I’d like to call attention to another wonderful revival, Happy Birthday, written by Anita Loos and originally seen on Broadway in 1946.  TACT/The Actors Company Theatre, is offering up a first-rate production of this romantic comedy about a demure librarian (a splendid Mary Bacon) who lets down her hair and finds the man of her dreams at the friendliest bar this side of Cheers.  

As is true of Superman and Donnybrook, the production of Happy Birthday (now on view at Theatre Row's Beckett Theatre) represents a labor of love by all involved—from the great set design, to the period music, to the direction, to every one of the performances.  Hats off to TACT, which last year gave us a top-notch revival of Neil Simon’s Lost In Yonkers, for putting together another winner.   

So here’s a question for all of you Broadway nabobs out there.  If Encores! and The Irish Rep and TACT can manage to put on first-class shows on shoestring budgets, why on earth has this been such a lackluster season on the Great White Way???  Just wondering.


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Merrily We Roll Along, And Along, And Along--But Are We There Yet?

Cast of Encores! Production of 'Merrily We Roll Along.' Photo by Joan Marcus

Cast of Encores! Production of 'Merrily We Roll Along.' Photo by Joan Marcus  

Merrily We Roll Along holds a special place in the hearts of many a Stephen Sondheim fan. In most cases, my own included, this emotional connection is tied to the original Broadway cast recording, particularly since productions have been few and far between ever since its unfortunate 16-performance run back in 1981.

Now it’s back, at least for a few performances (ending on Sunday), kicking off the new season of the Encores! series at the newly (and beautifully) refurbished City Center. 

The production has a lot going for it, including solid performances by the hastily-prepared cast and the musicianship of the orchestra—under Rob Berman’s sure hand—playing Jonathan Tunick’s reworked orchestrations (reworked, since some songs have been excised and others added since 1981). 

No matter what one might think of the show itself,  Merrily We Roll Along still has its share of “hummable-mummable” songs, including Old Friends, Not A Day Goes By, and that wonderful ode to youthful optimism, Our Time. 

Rather than go into the strengths and weaknesses of the Encores! production, however,  I’d like to jump into the debate that has stalked Merrily We Roll Along since its inception.   That is, what went wrong, and have years of tinkering fixed it?

The problems with the original production, which I did not see, have frequently been attributed to the youthfulness and relative inexperience of the cast, needing to play characters who start out as middle aged and go back in time 20 years as the play progresses.  That is the conceit of the show—a backward look at a life of compromises and digressions from the idealism of youth, underscored by a betrayal of marriage and the loss of deeply-rooted friendships. 

I don’t pretend to know how to make it work, but it does seem to me that Merrily We Roll Along takes a huge risk by running its story backwards (as did the not-terribly-successful 1934 Kaufmann and Hart play on which it is based). 

That’s because you’ve got to show a moment of regret at the start, and then ask the audience to hold that thought as you build an emotionally resonating history, so that the viewer will ultimately agree that this has, indeed, been a life worthy of regret. 

You could go the way of Ebenezer Scrooge, I suppose.  However, rather than Dickens, I would suggest that the world of opera—not unheard of in a conversation about Sondheim’s oeuvre—for other models.  

Give us, for example, the beginning of Faust at the front end, and the beginning of La Bohème at the other.   

Unfortunately, instead of Faust—filled with regret near the end of his life—we  have Frankin Shepherd, a man in his 40s, a successful movie producer, whose “crime” is that he veered from a path as a successful writer of musicals in order to pursue other interests. Hardly the stuff of grand tragedy.

And at the other end, we have what we are told is a binding friendship among Frank, Charley, and Mary, and a great love between Frank and Beth. 

But unlike the brilliantly-depicted camaraderie in La Bohème, the relationship among the triumvirate in Merrily We Roll Along is never convincingly significant.  Yes, Sondheim has given us the songs Opening Doors and Our Time to suggest such a deep friendship, but these are generational rather than personal anthems, and we are asked to believe their unbreakable bond is forged in a moment on the roof.  Love at first sight may have worked for West Side Story, but it doesn’t work for Merrily We Roll Along. 

The same could be said for Frank and Beth’s great love.  A marriage that ends in divorce is unfortunate, but it is rather too common among Frank’s set to be considered a tragic turn of events.  Actually, Frank’s estrangement from his son might be worth pursuing, but it is barely mentioned.

So we have it.  The world has presumably lost a successful composer of musicals, and even if we choose to believe Charley’s contention that “no one does it better,” Frank’s choice of a direction for his life is his to make.  Yet, we see precious little regret coming from him—only from Charley, his former writing partner, and from Mary, who has spent her life mooning over Frank.  It’s a shame, I guess, but it fails to fulfill the promise of the show’s premise. 

And so we have it.  I, for one, will go back to listening to the original cast recording and envisioning a different production of Merrily We Roll Along than the one we have actually been given.


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