‘On the Town’ a helluva good musical

SAILORS’ DELIGHT: (left to right) Jay Armstrong Johnson, Tony Yazbeck & Clyde Alves. Photo: Joan Marcus

ON THE TOWN
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Book & lyrics by Betty Comden & Adolph Green
Based on an idea by Jerome Robbins
Directed by John Rando
Choreography by Joshua Bergasse
Lyric Theatre
213 West 42nd Street
(877-250-2929), www.OnTheTownBroadway.com/

By David NouNou

On The Town is a tribute to a New York of yesteryear. Based on Jerome Robbins’ ballet Fancy Free, about three sailors on a 24-hour shore leave and the adventures they encounter on this one memorable day. To say this is the best revival of the dated musical would not seem much of a compliment, considering the two that preceded it. The 1971 version had Phyllis Newman, Bernadette Peters and Donna McKechnie as the female leads; Claire De Loone, the anthropologist; Hildy, the taxi driver; and Ivy Smith, the dancer, respectively.  The males/sailors were forgettable and negligible.  It was somewhat cute and barely ran three months at the Imperial. Then came the hubristic George C. Wolfe 1998 fiasco with Lea DeLaria as Hildy and Jesse Tyler Ferguson (pre “Modern Family” fame) as Chip, one of the sailors; now that was an odd pairing. It lasted less than a month at the Uris Theatre, now named the Gershwin. I am sure the theater has recovered from that ill-fated bomb since Wicked has landed there.

This version has been magnificently orchestrated and makes the score come alive; it is fresh, vibrant and nostalgic. Musical aficionados will recognize the sharp musical notes that later appeared in Leonard Bernstein’s 1957 masterpiece, West Side Story. The same can be said of Jerome Robbins’ choreography and ballet.  You will be able to recognize his signature moves of the leaping dancers, with their arms in the air and ballet steps that were electrifyingly used in West Side Story. Joshua Bergasse has splendidly captured and recreated Robbins’ movements, none better than in the ballet sequences.

We have the three sailors: Gabey (Tony Yazbeck), the shy dreamer; Ozzie (Clyde Alves) the ladies’ man; and Chip (Jay Armstrong Johnson), the tourist who wants to see all of New York in 24 hours. Let me say all three are charmers with great voices and certainly can dance. Their female interests ultimately will be Ivy Smith/Miss Turnstiles for June and Gabey’s Miss Ideal, the beautiful Megan Fairchild, making her Broadway debut.  Elizabeth Stanley is the anthropologist, Clair, who forgets she has a fiancée and goes ape for her Neanderthal man, Ozzie. Last but not least is Hildy, the man-hungry cab driver (Alysha Umphress), who has found her bait in Chip. The three women are lovely, enchanting and know how to belt a song. My favorite couple has to be Gabey and Ivy; their ballet together is simply sublime.

John Rando, the director, and his team have certainly taken a dated dodo of a musical and remastered it to be enjoyed for its dancing and singing merits by contemporary audiences and overlook its wobbly book. He fine-tuned most of his cast except for one. I must question his taste and sense of humor when it comes to Jackie Hoffman and giving her all that free rein on that stage. Ms. Hoffman, in various roles, doesn’t just chew up the scenery; she inhales the wings as well. She has been doing this “hit and miss” shtick since Xanadu and The Addams Family and lately it’s more of a huge, annoying miss than shtick.

Beowulf Borritt, the scenic and projection designer who was such a sensation earlier this year in anchoring LCT’s Act One, for which he won a Tony for its magnificence and intricacy, here has a set that is just representational. Although he uses names and places of the 1944 era by way of projection designs, the time represented might be 1944 but the projections we see are 2014. For this cavernous theater, the show needed a more grounded set to anchor this show instead of just to represent it. However On the Town is represented, it still shows New York as being “One Helluva Town.”

MISS TURNSTILES: Megan Fairchild (center) & the cast of ‘On the Town.’ Photo: Joan Marcus

LADY CAB DRIVER: (left to right) Jay Armstrong Johnson & Alysha Umphress in ‘On the Town.’ Photo: Joan Marcus

GUY ‘ON THE TOWN’: Tony Yazbeck. Photo: Joan Marcus

THEY’LL TAKE MANHATTAN: The cast of ‘On the Town.’ Photo: Joan Marcus

GIRL MAGNETS: (left to right) Clyde Alves, Tony Yazbeck & Jay Armstrong Johnson & the ladies of ‘On the Town.’ Photo: Joan Marcus

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published October 22, 2014
Reviewed at press performance on October 21, 2014