This
ditty-crammed tuner is one of only two shows authorized to
use the massive Irving Berlin song catalog. Scripter team of
Ray Roderick and Michael Berkeley infuse this vocal love fest
with 64 Berlin songs, ranging from the forgettable to the sublime.
While not all of the songs prove worthy of revival, performances
by a capable six-person ensemble are first-rate under the imaginative,
swift-paced staging of helmer-choreographer Roderick. An adroit
onstage band, led by musical director-pianist John Glaudini,
nicely buoys the proceedings.
Using an upright piano as a
centerpiece, the action follows Berlin's career from his earliest
hit, "Alexander's Ragtime Band." As the piano, with
its one bad key, moves through the 20th century, it becomes
the instrument of record at a sheet music store, a pre-WWI
parlor, a '20s speakeasy, a silent movie theater, a Depression-era
dance hall, a WWII canteen and a 1950s summer-stock theater.
Along the way, the ensemble
warbles such notable Berlin standards as "I've Got My
Love to Keep Me Warm," "Blue Skies," "Cheek
to Cheek," "Always," "Change Partners" and
those inevitable Berlin show stoppers "God Bless America" and "There's
No Business Like Show Business."
The ensemble members are often
paired up as the perennial young hopefuls Jim (Dan Pacheco)
and Eileen (Jill Townsend), egotistical leads George (Kevin
Earley) and Ginger (Kathi Gillmore) and seasoned pros Alex
(Stephen Breithaupt) and Sadie (Julie Dixon Jackson).
Pacheco and Townsend put their
vocal and hoofing abilities on impressive display with the
comical "We're a Couple of Swells" and "Let's
Go Slummin'." Breithaupt and Jackson score with the contrapuntal "You're
Just in Love." Earley and Gilmore offer a melodious "Isn't
It a Lovely Day" and Berlin's ode to prenuptial conflict, "Old-Fashioned
Wedding." The men unite with a properly sophisticated "A
Pretty Girl Is Just Like a Melody," while the ladies take
advantage of the canteen setting to rip through a swinging
Andrews Sisters tribute, "Any Bonds Today."
Each ensemble member has ample
opportunity to display his or her solo wares. Particularly
notable are Jackson's haunting renditions of the Ethel Waters'
classic "Suppertime" and the seldom-heard "Russian
Lullaby." Earley puts his effortless range to good use
on "The Girl That I Marry." As the girl left behind
by her soldier beau, Townsend delivers a heartfelt "What'll
I Do?"
Showing an abundance of vocal
and physical skills, Pacheco offers a perfect soldier's lament, "Oh
How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning," and a yearning "White
Christmas." Breithaupt is equally at home with the preening "Top
Hat, White Tie and Tails" and the gently comforting "Count
Your Blessings Instead of Sheep." Also moving smoothly
between tempos is Gillmore, who belts out "Let Yourself
Go" and settles quietly into the lovelorn ballad "Say
It Isn't So."
This overly long production
is hampered by a ponderous seven-scene first act, followed
by a much more entertaining three-scene second act. A more
workable musical balance could be achieved with the elimination
of such first-act clunkers as "Pack Up Your Sins and Go
to the Devil," "Two Cheers, Instead of Three," "Everybody
Step" and "I'm Getting Tired So I Can Sleep."
Despite its length, "I
Love a Piano" admirably celebrates the contributions of
one of the 20th century's most gifted and versatile American
musical artists.
Sets, Kevin Clowes; lighting,
Debra Garcia Lockwood; costumes, Todd K. Proto; sound, Julie
Ferrin. Opened, reviewed April 23, 2006; runs through May 7.
Running time: 2 HOURS, 15 MIN.
I Love a Piano: The Music of
Irving Berlin
(Carpenter Performing Arts Center, Long Beach; 650 seats; $50
top)
A Musical Theater West presentation of a musical revue in two
acts, music and lyrics by Irving Berlin, conceived and written
by Ray Roderick and Michael Berkeley. Directed and choreographed
by Roderick. Musical direction, John Glaudini.
Alex - Stephen Breithaupt
George - Kevin Earley
Ginger - Kathi Gillmore
Sadie - Julie Dixon Jackson
Jim - Dan Pacheco
Eileen - Jill Townsend
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