YANK! reviews

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 10/22/07 at 9:30am

I know Matthew Murray is often dissed here, and I've disagred with him plenty before. But he hits the bull-eye with his review of David & Joseph Zellnik's "YANK! - the Musical" at Gallery Players...

"Yet whatever the situation, David and composer Joseph realize the couple’s troubles with a lilting score of supple accomplishment that combines pastiche and the urgency of the heart to often searing effect. The musical centerpiece is “Remembering You,” an aching ballad of great love lost that highlights Stu and Mitch’s star-crossed pairing. The smoldering passion of the dance-by-moonlight “Blue Twilight,” the sad undercurrents of the future-planning “A Couple of Regular Guys” and the clear-eyed “Just True,” and even the agony of hiding in plain sight with a photo of “Betty” (a paean to the gorgeous Ms. Grable) catalog all of Stu and Mitch’s struggles as lovers in a culture that wants them only as fighters.

Other songs are just out for fun, such as the title-tune tribute to the weekly must-read and “Click,” a fantastic tap duet for Artie to indoctrinate Stu to the fleshly wonders hidden right before his eyes. (Denman also provided the show’s spirited choreography, which is never better than here.) There’s even a full-length ballet (beautifully led by Jonathan Day and Chad Harlow) in which Stu’s choices come back to haunt him in grand Rodgers-and-Hammerstein style...."

*********************************************************
A beautiful, sexy, moving show. Bring Kleenex. And "Remem'bring You" is the most revishing new theater song since "Will You?"
YANK!

[notabb]

Posted: 10/22/07 at 3:16pm

What a great show this was. It's improved from the last production I saw. The dances are much better. The new lead who played the youngest brother in 110 in the Shade is wonderful and Nancy Anderson is amazing as she performs each of her songs in a different style ( which I imagine is based on the girl singers of that period.) It's just this wonderful tuneful musical about gays in WW2. Go see for yourself.What a lovely score

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 10/22/07 at 7:32pm

David Bell of "Show Showdown" is a rave:

"Give me a respectful, carefully paced, sensitively acted, gay romance with equal parts of unrequited love, shame and intermittent explosions of passion and you will have me bawling like a melting fagbeast... which is exactly what I was doing at David and Joe Zellnik's Yank!, currently at The Gallery Players in Brooklyn. Led by a stunningly charming Bobby Steggert and swoontastic Maxime de Toledo, we have here a funny and heart-wrenching, old-school style, big musical about seldom explored stories of gays in the military during WW2. Thanks to Igor Goldin's tight, smart direction and a well cast company of actorsoldiers, this is one hell of a good production. Oh yes, and among this sweaty rabble of dogtagged mancastedness is a one Ms. Nancy Anderson, who, as listed in the program, plays "all females" and does so tremendously. She seems to be channeling every diva from Judy Garland to Bernadette Peters. How completely appropriate."
Show Showdown

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 10/22/07 at 7:38pm

Dan Bacalzo of TheaterMania is basically a rave (he doesn't care for the dream ballet and some of the perfomances of the supporting cast...I liked both):

"The Zellnik brothers have crafted an old-fashioned musical with a contemporary, socially conscious sensibility. The terrific score manages the difficult feat of invoking the musical styles of the era without sounding completely derivative. The haunting "Remembering You" could easily have gotten radio play in the 1940s, and the tuner pays tribute to the Gershwins, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and other tunesmiths. There's even an Oklahoma!-inspired dream ballet in the second act, complete with Dream Stu (Jonathan Day) and Dream Mitch (Chad Harlow). Unfortunately, the sequence comes across as too much of a self-aware wink to the conventions of the past, whereas the rest of the musical, directed by Igor Goldin, is played more sincerely."
Complete Review

[joniray]

Posted: 10/22/07 at 11:06pm

I looooooooooooooooooved this show at NYMF a couple of years back and got tickets to this production in Brooklyn as soon as I heard about it. Can't wait to see it next week! So glad this show is finally being seen again!

[JailyardGuy]

Posted: 10/23/07 at 3:30pm

Just stumbled on this thread...I'm so glad that you guys like the show! We've been working really hard, and we all love this show SO much, and it's great to know that it's having an effect on people

(for those who saw the show, I'm the flutist/1st clarinet/tenor sax in the orchestra)

[jaystarr]

Posted: 10/23/07 at 3:33pm

I would love to see this show ! I heard soo many good things plus I want to meet jaily


J*

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 10/23/07 at 3:38pm

I havent been back to Gallery since doing Assassins there a decade ago...this may get me back to the slope!

Congrats, Jaily!

[JailyardGuy]

Posted: 10/23/07 at 3:45pm

Dooder!!!

Yes, please do come see the show...it really is worth the trek. The cast is unbelievable, and the score is awesome.

[notabb]

Posted: 10/23/07 at 7:05pm

Jailyardguy , I'm going back to see it a 2nd time. Well worth it for the money. Actually , hearing CLICK or REMEMBERING YOU would be worth the price of admission

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 10/23/07 at 7:37pm

I'm going back on Saturday with my friend Barry who at first whined "You want me to go to Brooklyn to see a show?!!" until I convinced him otherwise. And I just got a ticket for the last performance on November 11. I suspect it will be a very emotional evening, as it falls on Veteran's Day.

Updated On: 10/23/07 at 07:37 PM

[counts]

Posted: 10/23/07 at 7:42pm

YES. Great show and great music.
Maxime de Toledo and Bobby Steggert are wonderful - - separate and together.

To Jailyardguy:
I couldn't see most of the pit from where I was sitting, but it sounded very good in most places.
Was that you playing those cool Benny Goodman-like clarinet and bass clarinet solos?
I also didn't hear tenor sax - were you playing tenor?

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 10/23/07 at 8:01pm

Here's a nifty snap (by Marc Ruffalo) of some of the YANK! brigade: (from left) David Zellnik (book and lyrics), Nancy Anderson, Joseph Zellnik (music), Igor Gorin (director) and Jeffry Denman.

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 10/26/07 at 12:11pm

Another rave, but OY! What a title for it!

"In 2005, this little show sparked interest at the New York Musical Theatre Festival, and now, mounted as a full-scale production by Park Slope’s Gallery Players, not a line of it rings flat. The current cast is superb, starring Broadway actors like Nancy Anderson (“Wonderful Town” and “A Class Act”), Jeffry Denman (“The Producers”) — who doubles as choreographer, and Bobby Steggert (“110 in the Shade”). Sure, the big names make this production buzz-worthy, but the real pull of the show is that it’s a universal love story....

When not speculating over the plot, I went in for the smart musical numbers. The Zellniks’ unforced sincerity makes the lyrics potent, and each song touches on an aspect of the human condition. This is no pastiche of show tunes, as the show joyously reclaims 1940s Hollywood platoon flicks and Broadway musicals. There is the distinctive sound of boogie-woogie, big band and swing-styles, all pulsating in syncopated rhythms. I found the songs seamlessly dovetailed with the unfolding action, not just a putting of lyrics through colored hoops."
Brooklyn loves YANK!

[gaykettle]

Posted: 10/27/07 at 4:30am

I am in the minority on this show. I just saw it. I did not feel it was strong in any way that a musical should be. The direction is tepid, the performances uneven and the music lackluster. Again, I know i'm in the minority on this. Its ok i probably have not taste.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 10/27/07 at 5:18am

I saw this show on Thursday night. My initial interest in the show was the casting of Bobby Steggert, as he had been a real favorite of mine in 110 IN THE SHADE. Boy, am I glad I made the trip to Brooklyn to discover this enormous gem. I cannot remember the last time I have been so moved, so unexpectedly touched time and again, by a new musical. JailyardGuy can attest that even walking back to the subway, I had tears streaming down my face.

The chance to see Jeffry Denman and Bobby Steggert break into a mind-blowing tap duet is worth the price of admission alone. But there is so much more. I have no words for the glory that is Nancy Anderson. She has it ALL. And she gets the chance to display it all -- every ounce of her beaming talent -- in this musical. She has the audience cheering, laughing through tears, and eating up every ounce of her comic deliciousness.

Jeffry Denman presents the most fresh choreography in one show that I have seen in quite some time.

Bobby Steggert proves that in addition to the old-fashioned, comedic musical theatre charm he displayed in 110 IN THE SHADE, he can be a committed dramatic actor, delivering one heart-rendering, moving moment after another.

Maxime de Toledo's intense, operatic voice comes so naturally that he simply needs to breathe it onto the stage.

To my fellow Manhattanites:

YES! It is WORTH the trip to Brooklyn, 100 times over.

See this show. You will not regret it.

To say that YANK! is an absolute dream come true would be a drastic understatement.

Edited for typo.

Updated On: 10/28/07 at 05:18 AM

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 10/27/07 at 1:32pm

gaykettle, It's OK. Not everybody likes everything. Even though I don't share your opinion, you don't have to apologize for it.

W.B.F. (LOVE your new icon - LOVE the show)...I had a hunch you'd love YANK! as much as I do. I haven't been so over-the- moon about a show since GREY GARDENS and [title of show]. I've ben telling everyone I know to run to Brooklyn to see it.

And you are so right about the emotional impact it has. During the scene with Stu and Mitch in the bunk, I started sobbing uncontrollably, and tried my best to be quiet.

Oh, how I'd love to see this on Broadway...with the cast unchanged.

Here's another blog review, from JustShowsToGoYou:

"..........The story, of the gay romance between two enlisted men during WW2, could not have been told in popular culture at the time it is set, and a good deal of the show's poignancy and power comes from telling it now in the style of old-fashioned music theatre. (There's even a second-act dream ballet, improved in this production and expressively danced by Jonathan Day). The score (by David and Joseph Zellnik) is dazzling: it has the feeling of the music of the era but it never sounds second-hand. (I especially loved the barbershop quartet-style harmonies for the men in the barracks, and the song that is essentially Yank!'s love theme, "Remembering You", has the kind of haunting melody that you can't get out of your head for days.) The show's book is also accomplished and impressive: it convincingly renders the dynamics between the lovers while also depicting the pervasiveness of homophobia and honoring the gravity of war that is the story's backdrop................Bobby Steggert (a scene-stealer in the Roundabout's recent revival of 110 In The Shade) is a knockout, anchoring the show with an emotionally forceful performance, Maxime de Toledo brings just the right balance of swoonworthy charm and aloofness to his portrayal, Jeffry Denman (not only reprising his role from the NYMF production but also doing a bang-up job with the choreographic duties here) and Nancy Anderson (as every female in the show, and doing some dead-on superb vocalizing as the gals who are heard singing on the radio) are perfection."
Fourth review down

Updated On: 10/27/07 at 01:32 PM

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 10/31/07 at 10:04am

Bumpin' for the guys (and gal) of YANK!

I'm going back this week. I only wish someonme from the TIMES would go out to Brooklyn to check it out...

[fakeblue]

Posted: 10/31/07 at 1:05pm

I saw this show in Oct 21 and Yes! you guys have to see it!
it's fabulous! I wanna see again before it's close :)

[WaltSummersPI]

Posted: 11/9/07 at 10:00am

FYI, this weekend (closing weekend) is practically sold out. there are a very few for tomorrow, and then both shows Sunday are sold out.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 11/10/07 at 7:52pm

I'm going back for the closing performance tomorrow night.

MasterLcZ, I'll see you there!