BWW Reviews: Mike Burstyn Inhabits Al Jolson at the Winter Garden

Al Jolson at the Winter Garden

by Bill Castellino and Mike Burstyn
directed by Bill Castellino
the El Portal Mainstage
through September 25.

Vaudeville is a bygone era. Much of its music is forgotten. Seems a pity, since it provided the roots of musical theatre as we know it. Bill Castellino and Mike Burstyn have created Al Jolson at the Winter Garden not only to pay homage to the great entertainer but to keep the memory of this time period vibrantly alive. Now on stage at the El Portal in North Hollywood, Jolson is somewhat illuminating as well as highly satisfying entertainment.

Replicating the Winter Garden Theatre (design by Timothy R. Mackabee) with a live orchestra onstage behind a scrim, the set of the show allows Burstyn, who plays Al Jolson, to perform solo and with three singers/dancers (Jacqueline Bayne, Laura Hodos and Wayne LeGette), as Jolson actually did on stage until his death in 1950, and also to come downstage to chat with the audience about the various courses his career took from vaudeville/burlesque to Hollywood for film and radio and back to the Broadway stage. At one point he tells of his infatuation with Ruby (Keeler), but if the audience didn't know the fact that he was married to Keeler, that Ruby's identity would have been in question. Outside of that, there is little about his personal life. It's career all the way. He emphasizes that the blackface he wore as a minstrel was purely for entertainment and that he was not a bigot. In fact, he lauded his friendships with Cab Calloway, Eubie Blake, Duke Ellington and others. He called himself a great Salesman and a WOW, as he was the first entertainer to take his show from New York to the road, the first to make $10,000/week and the first to sell a million records. No small ego was Al Jolson: he loved what he did, his role in show biz and Burstyn lets the audience know it from the moment he steps onto the stage.

There are some wonderful musical highlights including: "Rockabye Your Baby", "Swanee", a beautifully passionate "Sonny Boy", of course, as finale,"My Mammy", "Sitting On Top of the World", an audience singalong with "Nothin' Could Be Finer Than to Be in Carolina", "Toot, Toot, Tootsie", "Stardust", "Give My Regards to Broadway", "April Showers", "Let Me Sing" and "For Me and My Gal" among many others. Thank goodness we can hear these great standards once more, and that younger generations are getting exposure to them.

Burstyn 's charisma, sustained energy and essence of Jolson is admirable. I would prefer more of an attack on some songs, but he holds back a tad and perhaps justifiably so, not wishing to overdo or overwhelm an audience unaccustomed to the uncommonly bold style. Jolson was iconic among vaudevillians like W. C. Fields, Buster Keaton, Jimmy Durante, Fanny Brice and Milton Berle, to name a few. His three backup singers/dancers do fine work with song and dance and in briefly essaying various characters like his mama, Ruby Keeler, Hollywood directors, etc... Their first purpose is to guide him on to the next world, as his sojourn at the Winter Garden is still going on in 1951, a year after his passing. It may sound hokey, but it works just fine as an overall ruse.

For oldsters, who remember this era, Al Jolson at the Winter Garden is a must see, if for nothing more than a walk down memory lane. For those less familiar, go and experience the flair of this showman and his grande music.