Broadway by the Year: 1928

After a woefully long hiatus, Broadway by the Year has finally returned, and if The Broadway Musicals of 1928 was any indication, its seventh season should be its luckiest yet. Hosted, as ever, by the inimitable and indominable Scott Siegel, last Monday's star-studded concert highlighted many classic songs of that year, and brought back many that have faded away from the popular songbooks.

Backed, as usual, by Ross Paterson's Little Big Band (and, for the first time, by a terribly distracting electric light curtain that really should be reconsidered), the evening began with an introduction from Bob Martin, the Tony-winning writer and star of The Drowsy Chaperone, which focuses on a fictional 1928 musical. Throughout the evening, Martin returned to add some Fun Facts, mostly about Walter Mondale, who was born in 1928. (That particular dead horse was flogged rather well as the concert went on. Doesn't matter—Martin is still endearing, and Scott Siegel could easily become the next Man in Chair.)

Leah Hocking began the evening's songs with Cole Porter's classic "Let's Do It," and while her mastery of the lyrics might have been questionable, her mastery of the sentiment behind them was flawless. Max von Essen, Ms. Hocking's co-star in Dance of the Vampires, was joined by Broadway by the Year stalwart Nancy Anderson for an adorable rendition of the classic "You Took Advantage of Me."

BBTY regular Eddie Korbich, Bob Martin's co-star in The Drowsy Chaperone, sang a finely comic "Making Whoopee," with plenty of arched eyebrows and dry smiles. Paul Schoeffler, late of Nine, sang the contemporary-for-1928 "Ever Since the Movies Learned to Talk" (which they had only done in 1927), giving him a chance to show off his many accents and silly voices.

Nancy Anderson (doesn't she deserve some hip nickname by now, like NanAn or something?), who captures the joyous spirit of the roaring 20's better than any performer on Broadway today, sang a lovely and poignant "Billie" from George M. Cohan's musical of the same name, which happened to be his last. Cabaret artist Lumiri Tubo brought down the house with a bawdy "Got Myself Another Jockey Now" from Keep Shufflin', the follow-up to the 1921 hit Eubie Blake musical Shuffle Along.

Messers. Korbich, von Essen, and Schoeffler showed off their comic skills with "My Wife is On a Diet" from Whoopee, a song that might be used by the Atkins, South Beach and NutriSystem corporations. The Pajama Game's Joyce Chittick, who in only a few editions has become Broadway by the Year's resident lady dancer, showed off her fine soprano and ballet skills with "Oh, What a Night To Love."

Lari White, late of Ring of Fire and opening this week at the Algonquin's Oak Room, sang a lovely "Lover Come Back to Me," further solidifying her growing reputation as a rapidly rising cabaret star. Triple-threat BBTY vet Jeffrey Denman sang a sweetly winsome "You're the Cream in My Coffee" (otherwise known as "My Necessity"), which was nicely balanced by Mr. von Essen's poignant rendition of "Why Must We Always Be Dreaming?" And just as the lack of an unmiked song became noticeable, Paul Schoeffler and Nancy Anderson sang a soaring "Wanting You" without amplification, and took us to intermission.

After the entr'acte, the full cast reunited to sing the praises of "Stouthearted Men," but it was Lari White's simultaneously sensual and plaintive "Love Me or Leave Me" that really turned the heat up. Mr. Denman returned to sing "A Room with a View," and Nancy Anderson stole "I Wanna Be Loved By You" forever away from Marilyn with her coy and winsome rendition of the classic.

Mr. Korbich conjured his inner Groucho by leading the crowd in "Hooray for Captain Spaulding" from the Marx Brothers' classic Animal Crackers. While the song didn't have quite the manic energy preserved in the 1930 movie, it presented the original uncensored lyrics, and anything performed by Eddie Korbich is bound to be wonderful.

Ms. Tubo returned to sing a poignant and powerful "St. Louis Woman," and Max von Essen sang both the standard "I Can't Give You Anything but Love" and its rarely-heard counterpoint. Mr. Denman and Ms. Chittick returned to perform Cole Porter's "Heaven Hop" with some wonderfully energetic choreography courtesy of the dancers. (Whilst Noah Racey is otherwise occupied in Curtains, may I humbly suggest Mr. Denman and Ms. Chittick be engaged as BBTY's resident dance team? Their chemistry is just excellent.)

The second of the evening's two (only two!?!)  unamplified songs was the classic "Softly as in a Morning Sunrise," beautifully sung by Paul Schoeffler with a lovely tango by Nancy Anderson and Louis Villabon. The concert drew to a close with a very 20's-esque "Crazy Rhythm" (which nicely described the overall mood of the evening), and a legato reprise of the "Hello, I Must Be Going" segment from "Hooray for Captain Spaulding."

The Broadway Musicals of 1938 will be on March 28^th. Here's hoping there will be more unmiked songs. Please, Mr. Siegel?

Photo of Bob Martin by Mark Rupp; Photo of Nancy Anderson by Ben Strothmann

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