| Wildcat in Hey, Look Me Over! | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 04:02 pm EST 02/03/24 | |
| In reply to: re: Completely Original Musicals - Seth Christenfeld 10:31 am EST 02/03/24 | |
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| I think some of the shows from which numbers were included in Hey, Look Me Over! might be considered, or at least might have been considered by the Viertel regime, I'm doubtful even Viertel would have considered devoting an Encores! slot to Wildcat. And this from Jesse Green's review of Hey, Look Me Over! would not be an encouragement to the current leadership. "That’s not what 'Hey, Look Me Over!' — a peculiar and inevitably incoherent assemblage conceived by the Encores! artistic director, Jack Viertel — sets out to do. Rather, as Bob Martin, the evening’s host, explains at the start, the production is more of a highlights program. In the fiercely finicky style of Man in Chair, the musical-obsessed character he played in 'The Drowsy Chaperone,' Mr. Martin tells us that he himself has curated “Hey, Look Me Over!” as a kind of corrective to the series’ 'shocking omissions over the years, perfectly respectable shows that never made it to this stage for unknown reasons.' "Those reasons do not remain unknown for long, as Mr. Martin cedes the stage to the peppy overture and dull opening scenes of 'Wildcat,' a 1960 Lucille Ball vehicle with a score by Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh. That show’s big number, which provides the evening’s apt overall title, is as catchy an earworm as Broadway ever produced, and having Carolee Carmello belt it (with assistance from the newcomer Britney Coleman) is a delight. "But if seven or eight minutes of 'Wildcat' is long enough to reveal how bad the show is otherwise, it is not long enough to let us understand how it might also have been a little bit good." Btw, I realize it might sound above like I prefer the current leadership's choices of shows to Viertel's. I don't. |
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| Previous: | re: Completely Original Musicals - Seth Christenfeld 10:31 am EST 02/03/24 |
| Next: | WILDCAT -- Good Choice for Encores (if they want to make money) - BroadwayTonyJ 11:47 am EST 02/03/24 |
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