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MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2019
THEATER: COLE PORTER REVUE "DECLINE
AND FALL" IS THE TOP
THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ENTIRE WORLD AS
SEEN THROUGH THE EYES OF COLE PORTER *** out of ****
YORK THEATRE COMPANY
Seven years ago, the York Theatre Company delivered a sterling revival
of the Maltby & Shire revue Closer Than Ever. It ran and ran. Now
they're presenting the legendary but little seen 1965 revue called The
Decline and Fall Of The Entire World As Seen Through The Eyes Of
Cole Porter. It could run and run.
Closer Than Ever was a fully mounted, fully rehearsed production.
Decline and Fall is the middle show in a three-part season of York's
Musicals In Mufti series. For York, Muftis are their term for staged
concert performances. A game cast is handed a script and just a fewdays to learn the songs, practice choreography, rehearse their linesand then stand up in front of a paying audience and deliver.
The first show in the Mufti season devoted to Porter was
Fifty Million
Frenchmen and that's exactly the sort of show an Encores-style series
should be tackling. Not musicals with one eye on a big budget
Broadway revival, but shows that rarely if ever are done anymore and
probably won't get a Broadway revival no matter how well received.
Up third is an Ethel Merman vehicle called Panama Hattie.
And smack dab in the middle is the show I'm certain will be the best ofthe bunch. Decline and Fall was mounted in 1965 and apparently
hasn't been seen in New York City since, despite running some 15months and being one of the biggest hits of its kind in history.Masterminded by Ben Bagley, Decline and Fall is the very model of a
modern musical revue.MICHAEL GILTZ AT WORK
Michael Giltz is a freelance writer
based in NYC and can be reached atmgiltz@pipeline.com
FAVORITE LINKS
Americablog
Five O'Clock Lightning baseball blogDeep Pop -- Lori Lakin's Blog
The Back Page -- Jason Page on ESPN
Radio
Cine-Blog -- George Robinson's Blog
Documents On Art & Cinema - Daryl
Chin's Blog
Brucie G's Wondrous Blog Of
Adventure and Mystery -- Bruce
Greenspan's Blog
BLOG ARCHIVE
▼ 2019 (81)
► November (1)
▼ October (21)
Pictured: Lee Roy Reams, Danny Gardner, Diane Phelan, Lauren
Molina
Photo Ben Strothmann ©2019
By focusing on the lesser known songs of a major talent like Cole
Porter, Bagley underlined what a tremendous songbook Porter had tooffer. A four member cast is given plenty to do, Bagley's between-songpatter is swift and informed, the tunes vary from solos to duets to triosand so on, from sad (rarely) to happy (often) to witty (always) and the
evening breezes by.
That's precisely what this revival accomplishes too. The master of
ceremonies is Tony nominee Lee Roy Reams, surely the only actor toplay both Cornelius and Dolly Levi in legit productions of
Hello, Dolly!
Reams offers the right touch of avuncular charm and dry wit to theproceedings. You almost don't notice how well the show eases itséminence grise into the proceedings -- it's halfway through act onebefore Reams solos on an amusing "I'm A Gigolo." Then he's a
constant presence, whether offering up a Sophie Tucker imitation,
duetting wonderfully on "Well, Did You Evah?" with Danny Gardner,nailing an obscure song cut from Anything Goes and then ending thenight on a wistful, hopeful note with "Experiment."
Gardner has a lot of fun on that warhorse "Well, Did You Evah?" But
he's the show's core throughout, whether playing a tap dancing fool ina few welcome bits, using his square-jawed charm to goofy effect inthe opener "I've A Shooting Box In Scotland" or getting serious with
"At Long Last Love." Gardner enjoys an easy rapport with...well
everyone, from the two female co-stars Diane Phelan and LaurenMolina to Reams and the audience. His reactions to the hijinks aroundhim accentuate the pleasures of the night without ever callingattention to themselves. A stand-out in the Dames At Sea Broadway
revival, Gardner is right at home in the musicals of the 1930s, proving
he was born about 70 years too late.BOOKS: Don't Bother Trying To
"Find Me"
THEATER: "The Sound Inside"
Gets Muffled By Final...
THEATER: Stuff and Nonsense
for Friendly Crowds --...
THEATER: "Scotland, PA" or,
The Bloody King Of Bur...
THEATER: "For Colored Girls"
Returns. Finally!
The Movies, Books, Theater,
Concerts, CDs I've See...
BookFilter Reading List
TV and Film Must Watch List
THEATER: "Forbidden
Broadway" Is Back and
Broadway...
THEATER: "Soft Power" In
Hard Times
THEATER: "Dublin Carol" Hits
a Mournful But Hopefu...
THEATER: COLE PORTER
REVUE "DECLINE ANDFALL" IS T...
THEATER: "Terra Firma" Is On
Shaky Ground
THEATER: "The Glass
Menagerie" Sans Tricks OrTrea...
THEATER: Wrestling With
Faith in "Heroes Of The Fo...
THEATER: A Bright Future In
Reach For "Chasing Rai...
THEATER: The Not-So "Great
Society"
THEATER: BOO! A Halloween
Scare Fest Closes Its Ey...
THEATER: "A(loft) Modulation"
-- A Play With Jazz ...
THEATER: "Freestyle Love
Supreme" and "DerrenBrow...
BOOKS: A Fantasy Classic
Finally Translated Into E...
► September (10)
► August (9)
Lauren Molina, Danny Gardner and Diane Phelan
Photo Ben Strothmann ©2019
Molina was a hoot in the York's very successful musical Desperate
Measures and is at her best on the comic numbers here, especially
"Make It An Old-Fashioned Please." Phelan has fun too, including her
winning duet with Gardner on "But In The Morning, No." Yet she alsodelivers on the quieter numbers like "After You, Who?" and too manyduets and trios and full company numbers to mention. Indeed, the listof songs in the show program is 30 titles long, not counting the
medley at the end. Onstage pianist, occasional chimer-in on songs and
music director Eric Svejcar works overtime.
Half the fun of a casual staged concert performance like this is the
complicity between the performers and the audience. When a littlesomething goes wrong, Reams quickly smoothed things over with an
amused comment, turning the tiniest of off moments (like Phelan
grabbing a stool Reams needed) into a happy accident. DirectorPamela Hunt has a gentle touch on the proceedings, lending thisevening the casual but assured atmosphere it needs.
But eleven performances? This show can and should run longer. If itdoes, the projections by Jamie Goodwin should be given a punching-up. And certainly the complicated medley at the end will improvemightily once the cast has more performances under its belt. Yet, thelet's-put-on-a-show vibe is precisely right here.
The notes by Charles Wright give a wonderfully detailed look at the
show and the career of Bagley, who delivered a string of revues andeven more influential run of albums. When Wright says this 1965
revue prompted a reassessment of Porter, I'll assume he means a
reassessment of what shows and what songs mattered. A number ofthe songs here are standards, but the suggestion is that Decline andFall rescued them. Mind you, Porter was hardly forgotten by 1965. He
had a string of hit Broadway musicals into the 1950s, ending with Silk
Stockings. And the feature film High Society opened in 1956, the same
year Ella Fitzgerald launched her legendary tribute albums with Ella
Fitzgerald Sings The Cole Porter Song Book . ► July (7)
► June (3)
► May (6)
► April (10)
► March (5)
► February (1)
► January (8)
► 2018 (38)
► 2017 (6)
► 2016 (2)
► 2015 (29)
► 2014 (2)
► 2013 (5)
► 2012 (17)
► 2011 (15)
► 2010 (10)
► 2009 (43)
► 2008 (86)
► 2007 (781)
► 2006 (2412)
► 2005 (5)
Porter's legacy was ensured. Still, even now a good chunk of the songs
in Decline and Fall aren't well-known or often recorded but are a treat
to hear. As Bagley knew and this Decline and Fall revival prove, string
them together and present them with care and you can have a swell
party indeed.
THEATER OF 2019
Frankenstein: Under The Radar Fest at the Public ** 1/2
Minor Character: Under The Radar Festival at the Public ***
Ink: Under The Radar Festival at the Public ** 1/2
Choir Boy ** 1/2
White Noise ** 1/2
Kiss Me, Kate ***
Ain't No Mo' *** 1/2
Ain't Too Proud **
The Cradle Will Rock * 1/2
Mrs. Murray's Menagerie *** 1/2
Oklahoma! (on Broadway) ** 1/2
Socrates **
The Pain Of My Belligerence *
Burn This **
Hadestown *** 1/2
All My Sons * 1/2
Tootsie ** 1/2
Ink ***
Beetlejuice **
Estado Vegetal ***
Hans Christian Andersen * 1/2
Cirque du Soleil: Luzia ***
BLKS ** 1/2
Moulin Rouge ** 1/2
Bat Out Of Hell **
Unchilding **
Sea Wall/ A Life ** 1/2
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child ***
Betrayal *** 1/2
Fifty Million Frenchmen ** 1/2
Freestyle Love Supreme ** 1/2
Derren Brown: Secret ***
(A)loft Modulation * 1/2
The Great Society **
I Can't See *
Heroes Of The Fourth Turning ** 1/2
Chasing Rainbows: The Road To Oz ***
The Glass Menagerie (dir Austin Pendleton & Peter Bloch) **
Terra Firma (debut of The Coop theater company) **
Forbidden Broadway: The Next GenerationDublin Carol
Soft Power
The Decline and Fall of The Entire World As Seen Through The Eyes
Of Cole Porter ***
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the creator of BookFilter, a book
lover’s best friend. It’s a website that lets you browse for books online the
way you do in a physical bookstore, provides comprehensive info on new
releases every week in every category and offers passionate personal
recommendations every step of the way. He’s also the cohost of Showbiz
Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast that reveals the industry take on
entertainment news of the day with top journalists and opinion makers as
guests. It’s available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website.
Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called
Popsurfing and also available for free on iTunes.
POSTED BY MICHAEL GILTZ AT 1:47 PM
NO COMMENTS:
Post a Comment
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MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2019
THEATER: COLE PORTER REVUE "DECLINE
AND FALL" IS THE TOP
THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ENTIRE WORLD AS
SEEN THROUGH THE EYES OF COLE PORTER *** out of ****
YORK THEATRE COMPANY
Seven years ago, the York Theatre Company delivered a sterling revival
of the Maltby & Shire revue Closer Than Ever. It ran and ran. Now
they're presenting the legendary but little seen 1965 revue called The
Decline and Fall Of The Entire World As Seen Through The Eyes Of
Cole Porter. It could run and run.
Closer Than Ever was a fully mounted, fully rehearsed production.
Decline and Fall is the middle show in a three-part season of York's
Musicals In Mufti series. For York, Muftis are their term for staged
concert performances. A game cast is handed a script and just a fewdays to learn the songs, practice choreography, rehearse their linesand then stand up in front of a paying audience and deliver.
The first show in the Mufti season devoted to Porter was
Fifty Million
Frenchmen and that's exactly the sort of show an Encores-style series
should be tackling. Not musicals with one eye on a big budget
Broadway revival, but shows that rarely if ever are done anymore and
probably won't get a Broadway revival no matter how well received.
Up third is an Ethel Merman vehicle called Panama Hattie.
And smack dab in the middle is the show I'm certain will be the best ofthe bunch. Decline and Fall was mounted in 1965 and apparently
hasn't been seen in New York City since, despite running some 15months and being one of the biggest hits of its kind in history.Masterminded by Ben Bagley, Decline and Fall is the very model of a
modern musical revue.MICHAEL GILTZ AT WORK
Michael Giltz is a freelance writer
based in NYC and can be reached atmgiltz@pipeline.com
FAVORITE LINKS
Americablog
Five O'Clock Lightning baseball blogDeep Pop -- Lori Lakin's Blog
The Back Page -- Jason Page on ESPN
Radio
Cine-Blog -- George Robinson's Blog
Documents On Art & Cinema - Daryl
Chin's Blog
Brucie G's Wondrous Blog Of
Adventure and Mystery -- Bruce
Greenspan's Blog
BLOG ARCHIVE
▼ 2019 (81)
► November (1)
▼ October (21)
Pictured: Lee Roy Reams, Danny Gardner, Diane Phelan, Lauren
Molina
Photo Ben Strothmann ©2019
By focusing on the lesser known songs of a major talent like Cole
Porter, Bagley underlined what a tremendous songbook Porter had tooffer. A four member cast is given plenty to do, Bagley's between-songpatter is swift and informed, the tunes vary from solos to duets to triosand so on, from sad (rarely) to happy (often) to witty (always) and the
evening breezes by.
That's precisely what this revival accomplishes too. The master of
ceremonies is Tony nominee Lee Roy Reams, surely the only actor toplay both Cornelius and Dolly Levi in legit productions of
Hello, Dolly!
Reams offers the right touch of avuncular charm and dry wit to theproceedings. You almost don't notice how well the show eases itséminence grise into the proceedings -- it's halfway through act onebefore Reams solos on an amusing "I'm A Gigolo." Then he's a
constant presence, whether offering up a Sophie Tucker imitation,
duetting wonderfully on "Well, Did You Evah?" with Danny Gardner,nailing an obscure song cut from Anything Goes and then ending thenight on a wistful, hopeful note with "Experiment."
Gardner has a lot of fun on that warhorse "Well, Did You Evah?" But
he's the show's core throughout, whether playing a tap dancing fool ina few welcome bits, using his square-jawed charm to goofy effect inthe opener "I've A Shooting Box In Scotland" or getting serious with
"At Long Last Love." Gardner enjoys an easy rapport with...well
everyone, from the two female co-stars Diane Phelan and LaurenMolina to Reams and the audience. His reactions to the hijinks aroundhim accentuate the pleasures of the night without ever callingattention to themselves. A stand-out in the Dames At Sea Broadway
revival, Gardner is right at home in the musicals of the 1930s, proving
he was born about 70 years too late.BOOKS: Don't Bother Trying To
"Find Me"
THEATER: "The Sound Inside"
Gets Muffled By Final...
THEATER: Stuff and Nonsense
for Friendly Crowds --...
THEATER: "Scotland, PA" or,
The Bloody King Of Bur...
THEATER: "For Colored Girls"
Returns. Finally!
The Movies, Books, Theater,
Concerts, CDs I've See...
BookFilter Reading List
TV and Film Must Watch List
THEATER: "Forbidden
Broadway" Is Back and
Broadway...
THEATER: "Soft Power" In
Hard Times
THEATER: "Dublin Carol" Hits
a Mournful But Hopefu...
THEATER: COLE PORTER
REVUE "DECLINE ANDFALL" IS T...
THEATER: "Terra Firma" Is On
Shaky Ground
THEATER: "The Glass
Menagerie" Sans Tricks OrTrea...
THEATER: Wrestling With
Faith in "Heroes Of The Fo...
THEATER: A Bright Future In
Reach For "Chasing Rai...
THEATER: The Not-So "Great
Society"
THEATER: BOO! A Halloween
Scare Fest Closes Its Ey...
THEATER: "A(loft) Modulation"
-- A Play With Jazz ...
THEATER: "Freestyle Love
Supreme" and "DerrenBrow...
BOOKS: A Fantasy Classic
Finally Translated Into E...
► September (10)
► August (9)
Lauren Molina, Danny Gardner and Diane Phelan
Photo Ben Strothmann ©2019
Molina was a hoot in the York's very successful musical Desperate
Measures and is at her best on the comic numbers here, especially
"Make It An Old-Fashioned Please." Phelan has fun too, including her
winning duet with Gardner on "But In The Morning, No." Yet she alsodelivers on the quieter numbers like "After You, Who?" and too manyduets and trios and full company numbers to mention. Indeed, the listof songs in the show program is 30 titles long, not counting the
medley at the end. Onstage pianist, occasional chimer-in on songs and
music director Eric Svejcar works overtime.
Half the fun of a casual staged concert performance like this is the
complicity between the performers and the audience. When a littlesomething goes wrong, Reams quickly smoothed things over with an
amused comment, turning the tiniest of off moments (like Phelan
grabbing a stool Reams needed) into a happy accident. DirectorPamela Hunt has a gentle touch on the proceedings, lending thisevening the casual but assured atmosphere it needs.
But eleven performances? This show can and should run longer. If itdoes, the projections by Jamie Goodwin should be given a punching-up. And certainly the complicated medley at the end will improvemightily once the cast has more performances under its belt. Yet, thelet's-put-on-a-show vibe is precisely right here.
The notes by Charles Wright give a wonderfully detailed look at the
show and the career of Bagley, who delivered a string of revues andeven more influential run of albums. When Wright says this 1965
revue prompted a reassessment of Porter, I'll assume he means a
reassessment of what shows and what songs mattered. A number ofthe songs here are standards, but the suggestion is that Decline andFall rescued them. Mind you, Porter was hardly forgotten by 1965. He
had a string of hit Broadway musicals into the 1950s, ending with Silk
Stockings. And the feature film High Society opened in 1956, the same
year Ella Fitzgerald launched her legendary tribute albums with Ella
Fitzgerald Sings The Cole Porter Song Book . ► July (7)
► June (3)
► May (6)
► April (10)
► March (5)
► February (1)
► January (8)
► 2018 (38)
► 2017 (6)
► 2016 (2)
► 2015 (29)
► 2014 (2)
► 2013 (5)
► 2012 (17)
► 2011 (15)
► 2010 (10)
► 2009 (43)
► 2008 (86)
► 2007 (781)
► 2006 (2412)
► 2005 (5)
Porter's legacy was ensured. Still, even now a good chunk of the songs
in Decline and Fall aren't well-known or often recorded but are a treat
to hear. As Bagley knew and this Decline and Fall revival prove, string
them together and present them with care and you can have a swell
party indeed.
THEATER OF 2019
Frankenstein: Under The Radar Fest at the Public ** 1/2
Minor Character: Under The Radar Festival at the Public ***
Ink: Under The Radar Festival at the Public ** 1/2
Choir Boy ** 1/2
White Noise ** 1/2
Kiss Me, Kate ***
Ain't No Mo' *** 1/2
Ain't Too Proud **
The Cradle Will Rock * 1/2
Mrs. Murray's Menagerie *** 1/2
Oklahoma! (on Broadway) ** 1/2
Socrates **
The Pain Of My Belligerence *
Burn This **
Hadestown *** 1/2
All My Sons * 1/2
Tootsie ** 1/2
Ink ***
Beetlejuice **
Estado Vegetal ***
Hans Christian Andersen * 1/2
Cirque du Soleil: Luzia ***
BLKS ** 1/2
Moulin Rouge ** 1/2
Bat Out Of Hell **
Unchilding **
Sea Wall/ A Life ** 1/2
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child ***
Betrayal *** 1/2
Fifty Million Frenchmen ** 1/2
Freestyle Love Supreme ** 1/2
Derren Brown: Secret ***
(A)loft Modulation * 1/2
The Great Society **
I Can't See *
Heroes Of The Fourth Turning ** 1/2
Chasing Rainbows: The Road To Oz ***
The Glass Menagerie (dir Austin Pendleton & Peter Bloch) **
Terra Firma (debut of The Coop theater company) **
Forbidden Broadway: The Next GenerationDublin Carol
Soft Power
The Decline and Fall of The Entire World As Seen Through The Eyes
Of Cole Porter ***
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the creator of BookFilter, a book
lover’s best friend. It’s a website that lets you browse for books online the
way you do in a physical bookstore, provides comprehensive info on new
releases every week in every category and offers passionate personal
recommendations every step of the way. He’s also the cohost of Showbiz
Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast that reveals the industry take on
entertainment news of the day with top journalists and opinion makers as
guests. It’s available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website.
Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called
Popsurfing and also available for free on iTunes.
POSTED BY MICHAEL GILTZ AT 1:47 PM
NO COMMENTS:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)Newer Post Older Post Home