Last
summer, producer-creator Tripp Hornick presented the West Coast
premiere of The Melody Lingers On: The Songs of Irving
Berlin at North Hollywood's El Portal Theatre. The far
superior I Love a Piano, by Ray Roderick and Michael
Berkeley, now in its West Coast premiere, is another Berlin
greatest-hits cavalcade. Less pretentious than the semibiographical Melody,
Piano gets right down to business, offering 60-plus immortal
Berlin tunes. Director-choreographer Roderick, music director
John Glaudini, and a dream cast of triple-threat performers
parlay the glorious Berlin canon into a tuneful and exhilarating
show.
The writers devised an effective
linking device: The famous Berlin ditty of the title is the
springboard for a thin narrative about a piano that passes
through several owners, beginning in the Tin Pan Alley era,
circa 1911, when Berlin launched his career, and ending during
a late-1950s summer-stock casting session for Berlin's 1946
musical, Annie Get Your Gun. This framing device
allows for logical groupings of songs, such as the World
War II segment spotlighting Berlin's patriotic "God
Bless America" and his rousing military songs.
The ensemble is so evenly matched
it's impossible to pick favorites. It's immensely satisfying
to see Kevin Earley spread his comedic wings. He lets his hair
down to delightful effect here, making the most of Roderick's
lighthearted concepts. And that magnificent baritone voice
sounds resplendent when he lets loose on "How Deep Is
the Ocean?" and other soaring Berlin ballads. Julie Dixon
Jackson is also in stellar form. She croons the heart-wrenching "Suppertime" with
unbridled panache and shares a dazzling "You're Just in
Love" with the versatile and dynamic Stephen Breithaupt.
Dan Pacheco exudes charm and pizzazz, as in the snappy dance
number "Puttin' On the Ritz" and the delicious hobo
routine "We're a Couple of Swells," sharing it with
effervescent pixie Jill Townsend. The captivating Kathi Gillmore
is equally adept at belting out classic tunes and nailing choice
comic bits. Design credits are likewise classy-the icing on
the cake for this triumphant showcase-offering top-notch performers
relishing some of the finest show music of all time.
Presented by Musical Theatre
West at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center, 6200 Atherton
St., Long Beach. Thu.-Fri. 8 p.m., Sat. 2 & 8 p.m., Sun.
2 p.m. (Also Sun. 7 p.m. Apr. 30. Dark Sat. 2 p.m. Apr. 22.)
Apr. 22-May 7. (562) 856-1999, ext. 4. www.musical.org. |
