Playwright: music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, book by Joseph Daugherty
At: Bailiwick Repertory Theatre, 1229 W. Belmont
Phone: 773-883-1090; $25-$30
Runs through: April 8
BY MARY SHEN BARNIDGE
First off, it's a memory play, and the memory is of 1954, when the nation was basking in post-WW II optimism. Furthermore, the milieu over which our narrator waxes reminiscent is the brimming-with-possibilities world of television in its early days. Factor in his own remembered youthful exuberance at having landed a job writing for a popular comedy show, and is it any wonder that his account of the adventures marking that halcyon year are replete with nostalgic sentiment?
There's nothing fundamentally wrong with sentiment, certainly not when attached to Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens' eminently hummable songs and Annie Hackett's high-stepping dances. The plot in Joseph Daugherty's book, adapted from the 1982 screenplay, may be facile; our ambitious underling has been assigned to chaperone the show's high-spirited guest star, duties complicated by the former's infatuation with a female co-worker, the latter's affinity for drunken revels and the strained family relationships of both.
But its backstage-drama frame provides plenty of opportunity for period motifs: a slapstick-patter 'hobo' turn, for example, or lovers discovering their compatibility by waltzing together. And since our incorrigible celebrity is a former swashbuckler à la Errol Flynn, there is the inevitable full-cast melee ( staged with infectious glee by R&D Choreography ) involving six men armed with swords, one retired boxer, and dancers hefting tambourines among its 23 assorted zanies.
The proverb about many hands making for light work does not apply to huge production companies, however—the elephantine musicals of yore demanding greater reserves of energy than required by the pocket-sized liederfests popular today. But director David Zak again proves himself adept at keeping every corner of his stage picture vibrant and focused at every moment, while musical director Robert Ollis ( doubling on keyboards in performance ) leads a six-piece orchestra AND has the wit to smile when facing the audience.
Kevin D. Mayes' cavalier chops for the larger-than-life Alan Swann were a trifle subdued at the preview performance I attended, but his rapport with Michael Mahler, playing his put-upon handler, was well on the way to realization. Brian Simmons' ogreish boss and Kate Garassino's Selma Diamond-styled smartcracker swap repartee with knee-slapping precision, while Chip Payos and Susan Veronika Adler lend warmth and humanity to the easily-stereotyped roles of our hero's doting parents.
What better way to welcome in the spring than with this evening of giddy escapist fun?