Review - All Singin' All Dancin'

Please forgive my delay, dear readers, in jotting down a few thoughts on the latest Scott Siegel enterprise, the second annual All Singin', All Dancin', which scorched the Town Hall stage last Monday night. What with a bundle of new shows to take in since then (and a biggie opening up tonight) sometimes the task of summarizing a one-night-only revue has to be set aside briefly to write about new, longer-running productions.

But here we are, and once again Scott Siegel, his wife Barbara, and the crew of performers and musicians they've cultivated through the years have delivered a splendid concert of musical comedy. This was a rare night where, in addition to his usual duties as writer and host, Siegel took it upon himself to direct. But I'm sure he'll forgive me if I suggest his staging talents were put to minimal use as the bulk of the evening highlighted the exciting and diverse choreography of Josh Rhodes. With material representing a grab bag of Broadway through decades stretching as far back as the 1920's, Rhodes created an impressive variety of lyric-centric routines. Cole Porter's "Too Darn Hot" was danced by Lorin Latarro, Megan Sikora and Lisa Gajda with languid undulations while Kendrick Jones and Melinda Sullivan smacked the floor silly in a challenge tap that climaxed DeSylva, Brown and Henderson's "Varsity Drag." Jones and Melinda Sullivan displayed a more sensual side of tapping while Natasha Williams warmed the stage with a mellow rendering of Kurt Weill and Ogden Nash's "Speak Low." A very funny routine had a chorus of nerdy male dancers taking their best shots with the hot ladies they've found themselves accompanying on stalled subway train, singing Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh's "Real Live Girl."

William Michals, fresh from wowing the crowd at Siegel's A Night At The Operetta, did more of what he does best; thrilling audiences with a rich expressive baritone while relishing every note of Lerner and Loewe's "They Call The Wind Mariah" and cutting up in Cole Porter's "Where Is The Life That Late I Led?" Late in the evening, the standby for Emile de Becque in the current South Pacific revival stood center stage without a microphone and drew enraptured cheers with the dramatic Rodgers and Hammerstein classic, "Some Enchanted Evening."

Alli Mauzey, whose hilarious performance of the Patsy Cline spoof, "Screw Loose" in Cry-Baby was one of the highlights of last season, displayed a more delicate soprano side with Jerry Herman's lovely ballad, "I Never Said 'I Love You'" and Maury Yeston's dramatic "Unusual Way." The latter also featured Lorin Latarro, Michael Balderramo and Lisa Gajda in a ballet interpretation of the song's romantic triangle. A comic scene had Mauzey playing a computer and cell phone obsessed go-getter, leading into a clever dance routine when her boyfriend, played by Shonn Wiley, tries to romance her with the Gershwins' "I'm Old Fashioned." Wiley also had a funny song and dance routine accompanying Megan Sikora in the DeSylva, Brown and Henderson pacifist ditty, "Never Swat A Fly."

Cady Huffman was all musical comedy pizzazz with Cole Porter's "Always True To You In My Fashion," sizzled with heavily rhythmic jazz torchiness in a number she didn't sing in The Will Rogers Follies, Coleman, Comden and Green's "No Man Left For Me" and stretched her legit soprano muscles with Rupert Holmes' poetic "Moonfall."

Liz McCartney's soaring vocals embraced Tim Rice, Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson's "Someone Else's Story" and she was all Broadway comic brass as the diva diner waitress in Stephen Schwartz's "It's An Art."

That last number, of course, is from the musical Working, based on the Studs Terkel book, which Schwartz created by recruiting various songwriters to contribute material. Now in the process of revising the show, Schwartz asked Lin-Manuel Miranda to write a new song and the resulting "A Very Good Day" was premiered by Marie-France Arcilla and Christopher Jackson. It's a bittersweet duet sung by a man hired to take care of someone's father in a nursing home and a woman working as a nanny for a young child. As they build relationships with those they're paid to care for they wonder about the people who don't have time to do what they do.

With Fred Barton and Bruce Barnes skillfully sharing the music director hat, All Singin' All Dancin' was just another example of how musical theatre is alive and doing very well whenever Scott Siegel and his crew make Town Hall their home.

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