Review - Marilyn Maye & Golden Boy

If you have a hankering to see a room full of grown-ups acting like those teenagers watching The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show, then get thee to The Metropolitan Room, where Marilyn Maye is doing her traditional job of knocking 'em dead.

Back in the 60s, when The Fab Four ruled the airwaves, Maye was an emerging saloon singer in an era when saloon singing was going out of style. (She lost the 1966 Best New Artist Grammy to Tom Jones.) Rediscovered by New York's 21st Century nightlife crowd, her flexible, clarion vocals - remarkably preserved by good health and good genes - are paired with nearly 85 years worth of lyric-interpreting savvy, making for thrilling renditions of American Songbook standards we've heard a million times before. Johnny Carson, after one of her 76 Tonight Show appearances, once looked in the camera and advised young singers watching at home to buy her albums if they want to learn "how it's done." Nowadays, cabaret performers of all ages know to check out her live performances to see how that's done, too.

As is becoming her habit, Maye opens the new year with an engagement titled Marilyn By Request, where guests may request favorite songs of hers as they make their reservations, requiring the vocalist and her top-shelf ensemble (Ted Hubbard on bass, Warren Odze on percussion and her music director, the sublime Billy Stritch on piano) to whip up a new set for each show.

For newcomers to the Marilyn Maye experience who may not know what to request, may I humbly make a few suggestions? First and foremost, you should physically block the exit and refuse to let her leave without performing Elisse Boyd and Murray Grand's, "Guess Who I Saw Today," a heartbreaking number she makes all the more crushing with her light conversational tone.

And while the hit song from Golden Rainbow was "I've Gotta Be Me," Maye takes jazzy flight with the show's title song, embellishing the tune with a vocal dexterity that enhances its clubby drive. And speaking of Broadway title songs, it was Marilyn Maye who first had a hit single with "Cabaret" before the musical hit Broadway. It's well worth a listen, along with the title tune from Sherry!, which wasn't a success on Broadway despite the popularity of her single.

I can't name anyone with such a unique approach to Stephen Sondheim's survivalist anthem, "I'm Still Here"; done by Maye with the relaxed satisfaction of a woman who won't have any regrets about anything that led up to where she is now. And for a divine introspective monologue, I recommend her subtle approach to Billy Barnes' "Something Cool."

One song you won't have to request is her traditional finale, Jerry Herman's "It's Today," always sung with a delightful exuberance. It's such an appropriate signature tune for her because, unlike just about any performer in her age range, a Marilyn Maye performance is not about nostalgia for what she once could do. Maye is all about the here and now and she's still showing them how it's done.

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Director Bartlett Sher, who struck gold with his enchanting 2006 mounting of Clifford Odets' Awake and Sing!, now takes on the playwright's boxing drama, Golden Boy. And while the production may not score a decisive knockout, it does respectfully go the distance.

A great success for The Group Theater when it premiered in 1937, Golden Boy tells the story of aspiring young violinist Joe Bonaparte (Seth Numrich) the son of an Italian immigrant fruit peddler (Tony Shalhoub). Attempting to pick up some cash to support his music career, Joe discovers a knack for boxing. Not an imposing physical specimen, he becomes what is known in the game as a scientific fighter, out-maneuvering and out-strategizing his opponents while protecting his artistic hands. But quick pugilistic success, and the money that comes with it, threatens to win over Joe's heart, despite his father's belief that his son can one day serve humanity more nobly through music.

The gray and gritty visuals realized by Michael Yeargan's sets and Donald Holder's lighting bring to mind the naturalistic impressions of urban life by early 20th Century painter George Bellows, but they also tend to blur the actors' connections with the audience from the back of the house, hiding their performances in shadowy images. This is less of a problem in the boxing scenes, where the solid performances by Yvonne Strahovski as the hard-boiled, leggy blonde, Anthony Crivello as the flashy promoter and Danny Burstein as the good-guy trainer enhance Odets' colorful jargon.

But despite the presence of the fine Shalhoub, the scenes of Joe's home life tend to drag deep into the play's three act, three hour length. And while Numrich is empathetic enough, he doesn't carry the production as passionately as the role demands.

Some good hits throughout the bout, but this Golden Boy is a split decision at best.

Photo of Seth Numrich and Danny Burstein by Paul Kolnik.

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"Valjean serves nineteen years for stealing a loaf of bread; a punishment that he regards as unjust, though in fact it reflects well on the status of French baking." -- Anthony Lane

The grosses are out for the week ending 1/6/2013 and we've got them all right here in BroadwayWorld.com's grosses section.

Up for the week was: The Other Place (15.8%), GRACE (8.8%), PICNIC (4.4%), War Horse(1.6%),

Down for the week was: PETER AND THE STARCATCHER (-14.7%), GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS (-11.1%), NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT (-10.4%), THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD (-9.9%), CHICAGO (-9.4%), SPIDER-MAN TURN OFF THE DARK (-8.8%), MARY POPPINS (-8.1%), GOLDEN BOY (-7.2%), CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF (-6.7%), MAMMA MIA! (-5.7%), ELF (-5.3%), ANNIE (-4.7%), THE HEIRESS (-4.1%), ROCK OF AGES (-3.1%), DEAD ACCOUNTS (-3.1%), THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (-3.1%), JERSEY BOYS (-2.7%), WHO'S AFRAID OF Virginia Woolf? (-1.8%), CHAPLIN (-1.3%), WICKED (-0.4%), NEWSIES (-0.3%), EVITA (-0.1%),

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