Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Rare revivals to relish: City Center’s heavily revised PAL JOEY by Rodgers & Hart and MasterVoices’ top notch THE FROGS by Sondheim

• By drediman
• November 4, 2023
• No Comments

Despite their extremely limited runs, I had the great opportunity this weekend to relish a pair of rarely staged musicals. Read on below for my thoughts on these uncommonly well-produced presentations.

PAL JOEY
New York City Center
Through November 5

First up is this year’s New York City Center annual gala production – a heavily revised revival of Rodgers and Hart’s problematic albeit hit-laden musical Pal Joey (RECOMMENDED). The revival features a new book by Richard LaGravenese and Daniel Koa Beaty, as well as the transformative contributions of Savion Glover (choreography) and Daryl Waters (arrangements and orchestrations). Together, they’ve altered the overall cadence of the piece, ensuring that this is an iteration of the show that audiences are sure not to have seen before. Set in 1940s Chicago, this new version depicts Joey Evans as a Black singer trying to find success and integrity as an artist in an industry driven and overseen by White money and power. In the title role, Ephraim Sykes was on fire throughout, emitting tons of charisma and thoroughly compelling as a conflicted man who succumbs to unsavory actions with unfortunate consequences (it was especially fascinating to see the show in relatively close proximity to Classic Stage Company’s smashing Off-Broadway revival of I Can Get It for You Wholesale, another rarely performed musical with a notorious antihero at its center). All but stealing the show, however, was Loretta Devine, whose heart and comic timing breathed vital life into the irrepressible club proprietress Lucille Wallace. Also doing fine work were the actresses playing Joey’s competing love interests – Elizabeth Stanley as Vera Simpson and Aisha Jackson as Linda English – both of whom put terrifically distinctive stamps on their characters and terrific songs. Although I was initially a bit resistant to Glover’s high concept choreography – whose main feature is a ghostly dance ensemble representing the Black Spirit, which rears its head at key moments in the show – and Waters’ significant modifications to the score, but I ultimately bought into the creative team’s vision for the classic show. If not the completely transcendent success they had hoped for, this Pal Joey nonetheless compellingly repurposes the musical for the 21st century, boldly transforming a problem child into a responsible citizen.

THE FROGS
MasterVoices at the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center
Through November 4

Musical theater aficionados, take note – the stars aligned this weekend to have four major productions of Stephen Sondheim musicals simultaneously playing in New York. Joining the acclaimed productions of Sweeney Todd, Merrily We Roll Along, and Here We Are is MasterVoices’ top notch semi-staged revival of Stephen Sondheim’s The Frogs (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED), which is currently being shown at the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center for three performances only. Apart from a full scale Broadway staging courtesy of Lincoln Center Theater nearly two decades ago (in which Burt Shevelove’s original book was aggressively expanded by Nathan Lane, who also starred in the production), live performances of the curious 1974 musical – famously first staged at a Yale swimming pool – have been few and far between. And not surprisingly. Freely adapted from a 405 B.C. comedy of the same name by Aristophanes, the “quest” musical lacks the penetrating psychological depth of Sondheim’s better known works, often reverting to A Funny thing Happened on the Way to the Forum-like shenanigans to entertain audiences. Although the Broadway version of the show has been condensed for this concert presentation (amusing plot-filling narration was provided by none other than Mr. Lane himself), the musical has never sounded better than it did this weekend under the music direction of MasterVoices Artistic Director Ted Sperling, who conducted a lively and satisfyingly full account – backed by an immense chorus – of Sondheim’s underrated score. Indeed, I’m just now more than tempted to pull out the 2004 cast recording to relive the songs, which finds the master in an unusually frisky, laid back frame of mind. Simply but elegantly staged by the multi-tasking Sperling, the presentation featured a number of delightful turns, starting with Douglas Sills’ hugely likable and comically robust performance as Dionysos. Other than Sills, there were plenty of delicious standouts in the male-dominated cast, including Kevin Chamberlin’s sweet Xanthias, Marc Kudisch’s pompous Herakles, Chuck Cooper’s affable Charon, Peter Baker’s hilariously affected Pluto, Dylan Baker’s excessively severe George Bernard Shaw, and Jordan Donica’s stately William Shakespeare.