Stephen Sondheim’s Road Show at Menier Chocolate Factory

A London Summer with Huntley Dent

Stephen Sondheim’s Road Show at Menier Chocolate Factory

July 25, 2011Huntley Dent

Music at the close. The adage is leave 'em wanting more, not less, but Stephen Sondheim has barely skirted the latter fate. At eighty-one, he's been erratically revising a problem child since 1999 that is now called, blandly, Road Show. Under various uninspired titles — Wise Guys, Gold!, and Bounce — the musical flipped and flopped around the country from Chicago to New York and Washington D.C. At every step of the way Sondheim, being Sondheim, attracted the biggest names to direct and star, including Hal Prince and Nathan Lane. But no luck.

Where’s Charley? by George Abbott and Frank Loesser at City Center Encores!

May 25, 2011Nancy Salz

Where’s Charley? at City Center Encores!
New York City, March 16-20, 2011

Based on Brandon Thomas’ Charley’s Aunt
Book by George Abbott
Music and Lyrics by Frank Loesser

Cast:
Sebastian Arcelus, Jeff Brooks, Rebecca Luker,
Dakin Matthews, Rob McClure, …

Where’s Charley? by George Abbott and Frank Loesser at City Center Encores!

April 22, 2011Nancy Salz

Sometimes it can be the simplest gesture that tips off an audience they’re in for a theatrical treat. In the recent City Center Encores! revival of Where’s Charley? the clue took place in the opening quartet in which two young couples alternated in duet. When they weren’t singing, the performers pulled their chests up high, linked arms and bounced subtly and elegantly on their toes in time to the music. Here was imaginative choreography where an understated move (think Fosse’s hat-tilt) said everything! Here were singers who could dance! With just one exception, the entire performance lived up to its early promise of stylish fun.