Reviews by Brandon Judell
The Broadway Musicals of 1951
Created, written and hosted by Scott Siegel
Directed by Thommie Walsh
Produced by The Town Hall 123 West 43rd Street, 212-382-1875
One night only: May 13, 2002 Next in series: June 10, 2002
Reviewed by Brandon Judell
1951. What a year! Price controls were introduced to curb inflation. CBS presented its first commercial color broadcast. But since the public didn't own any color TV sets, only CBS executives could enjoy the hues. Then of course," Bedtime for Bonzo" was released starring a President to be.
But for most of us the event that resonates the most was that Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I premiered on Broadway starring Gertrude Lawrence and Yul Brynner. Baldness suddenly became a hot trait.
And this is what Scott Siegel and his bravura Broadway by the Year series celebrated the other night. No, not hair loss but a musical Siam that could only become a reality on the Great White Way.
As I've mentioned before each night of this Town Hall series gathers together top Broadway and cabaret talents to sing out the virtues of a specific year on Broadway.
The third of this year's offerings mainfested the skills of Chip (Into the Woods) Zien; Leslie Kritzer who rollerskated to acclaim as Funny Girl at the Paper Mill Playhouse; Rebecca (Ragtime) Eichenberger; plus Davis Gaines who's played the Phantom in the Phantom of the Opera over 2000 times. Don't let him near your chandelier. If this wasn't enough, there was also the succulent Alison Fraser who won over our hearts years ago in Romance, Romance and is still as marvelously winning. What a voice! What a delivery! What a cast!
That's the good news. The slightly sadder reality was that 1951 was not a great year for Broadway. Consequently, Mr. Segal had less familiar tunes to entertain us with, plus far fewer discoveries. In fact, the main joy of Broadway by the Year is experiencing the recovery of great songs that Scott has unearthed and made fresh again with his top-notch musical director Ross Patterson.
But still no one complained. Town Hall was nearly sold out, and the crowd comprised of Broadway buffs, performers, press and a few buffed gay men seemed to be in Sixth Heaven, if not Seventh. And why shouldn't they be?
From the flop review, Bagels & Yox, Zien had everyone singing and clapping to the joyously Yiddish "Chi-Ri-Bin, Chi-Ri-Bom." He was though a bit less effective with "Top Banana" from Johnny Mercer's musical of the same name. No Phil Silvers he.
Frasier, however, was a top banana, bringing the house down with her slyly vicious take on the witty "Refinement" from A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Imagine a hilarious ode to premarital sex with a now-deceased bigamist whom you've wed and you've almost got it. The other four tunes from this musical that were performed went from worthy ("Growing Pains") to static ("I'm Like a New Broom").
A true audience favorite was Gaines, the ideal romantic leading man, and his unmiked forays into Lerner and Loewe's Paint Your Wagon. His butch yet yearning takes of "Wandrin' Star" and "They Call the Wind Maria" elicited bravos, a lot of heart pounding, and several reported faintings.
Also delicious was Leslie Kritzer's "I Wanna Be Good 'n' Bad" from Hugh Martin's Make A Wish. This paean to sin from a virgin should be become a cabaret standard, please. Pretty please.
Other productions represented included Seventeen, Flahooley, and Courtin' Time.
Holding the show together again with his humor and informative trivia was Mr. Segal, clearly an audience favorite. As for The Ross Patterson Little Big Band, they made even the most minor tunes worthy of experiencing once. [Judell]
Copyright © Brandon Judell 2002
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