Review - Jim Walton Elevates Spirits During Minnie's Boys Delay

The time had already come and passed for The Faux Marx Brothers & Co. to hit the stage with the final performance of The York Theatre's Mufti production of Minnie's Boys on Sunday night when Producing Artistic Director Jim Morgan announced that the show had to be held up a bit because there were people stuck in the theatre's elevator.

Ten minutes later we were advised that the fire department was on their way and that in the fine theatrical tradition of keeping the crowd from getting hostile, cast member Jim Walton volunteered to come out and sing a few numbers, accompanying himself at piano.

Not quite knowing what to do at first, he noodled around a bit before striking up on an amusing bit based on "The Man on The Flying Trapeze." A request for Kander and Ebb's "Sara Lee" resulted in the audience singing along with the chorus but the excitement really began when a voice from the back yelled, "Anything from Merrily We Roll Along... which you were so wonderful in!"

Walton seemed very touched by the encouraging applause that followed the request and delighted the crowd that became pin drop silent for his beautiful, impromptu "Good Thing Going." After telling a Merrily story about a performance where Lonny Price whispered at their first second act entrance, "Look, there are people in the balcony!," the original Franklin Shepherd, Inc. treated the audience to "Not A Day Goes By," only by now we could start hearing the emergency workers in the theatre lobby.

The sentimental mood was broken by a voice backstage demanding, "Play 'Melancholy Baby'!" Big laugh.

Next, Walton tried introducing Minnie's Boys composer Larry Grossman, who he thought was seated in the audience. After a couple of moments of searching someone got another big laugh by shouting, "He's in the elevator!"

The audience merrily sang along to "Ain't Misbehaven," "The Sunny Side of the Street," and "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" before the trapped playgoers began straggling in, earning rounds of applause for both their entrances and Jim Walton's exit. By 8:15, forty-five minutes after curtain time we were all enjoying the musical Marxism.

A fellow from the elevator took the seat next to me and when I asked if everyone was okay he just smiled and said, "Oh sure, it was a fun group. Lots of theatre people."

Sounds like everyone had some memorable pre-show entertainment.

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