Li'l Abner

February 5th, 2008
Reprise, UCLA's Freud Theatre, Los Angeles
Musical, we went with Pam

Starring Eric Martsolf, Brandi Burkhardt (below), Cathy Rigby, Michael Kostroff, Larry Cedar, Robert Towers, Jamie Luner and Fred Willard (and many others). This may be the largest cast we've seen in a Reprise production.
It debuted on Broadway in 1956, and of course it's based on Al Capp's comic strip. This is the first professional production we've seen, and I have to say, the charm and voices of this cast carry any old-fashioned elements that would likely drag otherwise. The songs don't move the plot forward much, but many of them are very funny and charming, and with this cast and all the visuals, I didn't mind. Especially when the alternative is seeing this musical in its usual venue (at a high school).

Eric Martsolf couldn't be more engaging and charming as the strapping, laid-back, pure-hearted Abner. But he's also funny, and has a very strong and appealing voice. There's a genuine quality about his performance that makes you care about Abner. And Brandi Burkhardt (Daisy Mae) could sing the phone book and I'd listen. Beautiful soprano voice (we loved hearing her sing I'm Past My Prime ~ likely the most known song from this musical). I look forward to hearing her sing again. Strong voices really add some gloss to these old-fashioned musicals.

(Fred Willard, Jamie Luner and Eric Martsolf)

(Robert Towers as pappy, Cathy Rigby as mammy, Eric Martsolf and Brandi Burkhardt)

The broad characters and huge cast were full of energy and spunk, and our favorite songs were the above and The Country's in the Very Best of Hands and Namely You. The set & costumes were colorful and exaggerated and evoked the comic strip name-sake.

And I can't forget to mention how entertaining Larry Cedar always is; I doubt he could do a bad performance. Also notable in this production is the appealing Michael Kistroff as Marryin' Sam; we'd love to see him again in something.

Damn Yankees

November 6th, 2007
Reprise!, UCLA Freud Theatre
Musical, we took Rachel


Directed by Jason Alexander
Starring: Ken Page, Armelia McQueen, Lillias White, Jackee Harry, Lesli Margherita, Hassan El-Amin, Cleavant Derricks, Meg Gillentine and Ty Taylor


Once again, Reprise! delivers.

I never thought I would see Ken Page and Armelia McQueen together again, let alone alongside Cleavant Derricks, Lillias White and the rest of this solid and impressive group of singers and actors. Living out here and being so far from New York, Reprise! brings us the talent we miss seeing most.

(Ty Taylor, Jackee Harry and Lillias White)

(Ty Tyalor and Meg Gillentine)

Using an African-American-centric cast in "Damn Yankees" was not only brilliant (and thrilling), but very natural. The music and the story are of course a guarantee, but to cram this production with such larger-than-life talent is worth just about any ticket price.

(Cleavant Derricks as The Devil)

The highlights for us were definitely the trio of Ty Taylor with Ken Page and Armelia McQueen (Near to You), some quirky choreography, and Lesli Margherita and company singing "Shoeless Joe from Hannibal Mo." Armelia and Ken couldn't have been more appealing (A Man Doesn't Know), and as expected, Lillias White brought down the house with an energized and heartfelt gospel version of "Heart (reprise)." With Armelia and Ken as Meg and Joe, the show has plenty of heart, that's for sure. You really feel how much these two love each other. And for this show, that's crucial. It was great to see Ty Taylor again (see "CHESS" below).

This one is one for the memory book.
Playing now through the 25th! Don't miss it!


(photos by Michale Lamont, special thank-you to Peter Goldman of Davidson & Choy Publicity for the wonderful photos!)

On Your Toes

August 14, 2007
Reprise, UCLA's Freud Theatre
Musical, we went with Rachel
Rodgers & Hart

Starring: Jeffrey Denman, Beth Malone, Dan Butler, Stephanie Powers, Yvette Tucker, Brett Ryback and Jonathan Sharp.

I sometimes get bored with musicals that have as much dance as singing, but this choreography was highly entertaining, as were the very talented dancers. It's always nice seeing dancers who are gifted & solid character actors (Yvette Tucker and Jonathan Sharp, pictured above). And we were surprised to learn that Stefanie Powers has some pipes! Brett Ryback is clearly multi-talented and has a great voice and appealing stage presence. We'd love to see him take a lead in something. We thoroughly enjoyed lead Jeffry Denman, a triple-threat... great voice, quirky, funny, and he's as good a dancer as we've seen on The Great White Way.

The plot... a music professor's aspiration to help his student write a non-traditional jazz ballet for the Russian ballet collides with the highly tempermental Maestro (Butler, who played Bulldog on "Frasier") and his prima-donna leads (Tucker & Sharp). There's romance (with Beth Malone whom we enjoyed in "Sister Act") and just enough plot to string the songs together. They lyrics were brilliant. It's a very charming musical, and it was great to see Reprise bring it out and remind us. This musical is still fresh enough to entertain modern theatre audiences.

Notable songs: "There's a Small Hotel," "You Took Advantage of Me," "The Heart is Quicker Than the Eye" and "On Your Toes."

And we laughed out loud when Stefanie uttered the words "heart to heart" (Hart to Hart), and when Dan Butler, as Maestro of the Ballet proclaimed "I am The Decider." Another fun evening at Reprise!

No Strings

May 8th, 2007
Reprise, UCLA
Musical by Richard Rodgers, we went with Rachel

Starring Scott Bakula, Sophina Brown and Bets Malone

This musical is surprisingly sweet and tuneful.
An American writer down-on-his-muse falls in love with a young successful fashion model in 60's Paris (Bob Mackie's costume design brought Paris, San Tropez and Monte Carlo to life quite brilliantly). These two might normally clash, but Paris brings them together in spite of their differences.

Based on hearing the original cast from 1962 with Diahann Carroll & Richard Kiley, Reprise's casting makes all the difference. Scott Bakula plays a very sincere David, a road-traveled writer captivated by Sophina Brown's Hepburnesque naive and doe-eyed Barbara. Scott plays a romantic lead effortlessly, I have to say. Bets Malone as Comfort O'Connell steals her scenes and never disappoints (we won't soon forget her rendition of "Eager Beaver"). And Ruth Williamson was perfectly cast as a "seen-it-all" American Editor of Paris Vogue (and Sophina's motherly confidante and adviser). One highlight was how well Ruth's and Bets' voices blended in their brassy duet "Love Makes the World Go."

The songs are very sweet, ranging from romantic to spunky and full of cheek, and the lyrics (also by Rodgers) are less self-conscious than a lot of older musicals. I'd say of most of the older musicals we've seen, this one holds up fairly well. Who doesn't want to spend 2 hours in Paris, Monte Carlo and San Tropez with two young lovers, in love with life and each other? (and the costumes... did I mention Mackie's costumes? I did? Okay).

What I loved most was that this musical wasn't afraid to spend time letting the lovers fall in love and be together. That was refreshing.

I don't care for the very coarse and brash vocal textures in the original cast recording at all, but I will always remember a gentler, more rich and easy-on-the-ears cast of voices in Reprise's production. You'll leave, but the haunting ballad "The Sweetest Sounds" will stay in your head for days.

Extra half star for what I thought is a well-written book and wonderfully casted leads.

Company

June 3rd, 2004
Reprise! Broadway's Best,
UCLA's Freud Theatre
Musical

This is one of my absolute favorite musicals, and when we heard we were going to see Christopher Sieber in it, we were thrilled. He did not disappoint!
The supporting cast was solid. Louise Kelly as Amy was the real stand-out. She nailed "I'm Not Getting Married." Not an easy song.

I have to note that this is one of our first professional productions since moving to Los Angeles, and and we were so happy to see Broadway faces after moving from the East Coast. Reprise clearly cares about bringing Broadway to the West Coast. We are excited for future productions. Voices are clearly important to Reprise. I can't wait to see their next!