New York City Center Encores! at 25
presented Hey,
Look Me Over!,
conceived by Jack
Viertel.
Instead of one complete show, scenes from seven
shows that have never been given were presented,
introduced by Bob
Martin.
They were Wildcat,
All American,
Jamaica, Milk and Honey, Mack & Mabel.
with a remarkable Alexandra
Socha and
the wonderful Douglas
Sills.
They were the highlight of the evening, Greenwillow,
with a magnificent Clifton
Duncan. What
a brilliant voice! Sail
Away and George
M! Among
the fine performers were Carolee
Carmello, Marc Kudisch, Judy Kuhn, Tan Mutu, Bebe
Neuwirth and Vanessa
Williams.
I have never missed a Encores! in 25 years, and
this was a very enjoyable evening.
No-No Boy,
by Ken Narasaki,
based on the novel by John
Okada, at the Studio Theatre at Theatre Row, is
a production of the Pan Asian Repertory Theatre. The
play takes place in Seattle in 1946.
Japanese-Americans have returned home after being
interned during World War II. There are ten
excellent actors, who perform in this 85-minute
play. Ichiro Yamada (Chris
Doi) returns home after two years in jail for
refusing to swear allegiance to the United States
and join the army. His problems with his family and
friends form the story. It is a fine play, which
represent a dark chapter in the history of
the United States.
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Bar Mitzvah Boy, book by Jack
Rosenthal, lyrics by Don
Black, music by Jule
Styne, is one of the Musicals in Mufti, presented
by the York Theatre Company at the Theater at Saint
Peter's. The eight member cast is directed by Annette
Jolles, with Darren
R. Cohen at the piano. At 13-years-of-age, Eliot
Green (Peyton Lusk)
is preparing to become a man according to the Jewish
religion. In the synagogue for his bar mitzvah, he runs
away to his family's distress. All ends happily. The
music is pleasant and acting and singing by the entire
cast is fine. We congratulated them at the opening night
party in the music room at the theater.
The Music of Jule Styne,
conceived and music directed by Ron
Abel, with musical staging by Pamela
Hunt, with Ron Abel at the piano with Richie Goods on
bass, was a special cabaret presentation by the York
Theatre Company. Four terrific singers Hannah
Cruz, George Dvorsky, Ty Stephens and Barbara
Walsh sang a selection of Jule Styne's songs from
his Broadway shows, films and popular songs. It was
ninety minutes of pure delight. What a
wonderful composer Jule was!
I attended a sneak preview of Escape
to Margaritaville, music and lyrics by Jimmy
Buffett, at the Marquis Theatre. We had
a discussion on stage from the two book writers, Mike
O'Malley and Greg
Garcia, the choreographer Kelly
Devine and the director Christopher
Ashley, as well as Jimmy Buffett, who posed for
an exclusive photograph for me after the
presentation (photo
below). They presented two selections, one with Paul
Alexander Nolan and Alison
Luff (photo
below), from the show. I am sure it will be a
big hit on Broadway. It will open on March 15 and I
hope to attend opening night.
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