"P" SOUP – THE RETURN! (WITH MUSICAL UNDERTONES)

"P" SOUP – THE RETURN! (WITH MUSICAL UNDERTONES)

("P" Soup is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alphabet Soup)

Don't make any overtures, Pacific or otherwise, to a pirate from Penzance unless you make all sorts of promises, promises.

  

PACIFIC OVERTURES – Studio 54 (Roundabout Theatre Company), New York

November, 2004. Preview performance. At first glance, the arrival of Commodore Matthew Perry in insular Japan in 1853 to open up trade with the West, forcibly if necessary, and the subsequent Westernization of Japan, hardly seems the stuff that musicals are made of. But, in the hands of John Weidman and Stephen Sondheim, two masters of the craft, it becomes a fascinating, if flawed, piece of musical theatre. The star of the show is Sondheim's remarkable score, one of his best in my opinion, and undeservedly one of his least known. It's a stunner, full of scintillating lyrics and ideas accompanied by a lush Japanese-inspired score. The 1976 original cast recording is superb. Roundabout's 2004 revival, the first Broadway production since 1976, was a mixed bag. Based on a 2000 Lincoln Center production imported from Japan's New National Theatre, the Roundabout production seemed a bit bare bones scenically, and musically the seven-piece orchestra, though excellent, sometimes was just too thin to do justice to Sondheim's melodies. Especially disappointing was "Please Hello!," the stunning piece of pastiche which opens Act 2. Musically muddy and messy in its staging, this is the big Broadway number in the show, brassy and fun, and, sadly, it never gelled. Amon Miyamoto, repeating his 2000 Lincoln Center chores, directed and choreographed the show with unremarkable professionalism. B.D. Wong was the above-title star, and he was proficient as the Reciter, but just wasn't terribly exciting. Among the cast members were Telly Leung, Paolo Montalban, and most interestingly, Sab Shimono, a veteran of the 1976 original cast, and perhaps best known as the original Ito in Mame. If the production itself was uneven, this was still a rare opportunity to see this underrated, important work in a professional production. In today's world of Trump with his relentless and unprecedented lack of diplomacy, sensitivity, and understanding of the world, Pacific Overtures reminds us how bombastic, egotistical, and jingoistic the United States can be, even at the expense of irrevocably altering a country's cultural heritage. Although I wasn't as enchanted as I had hoped to be, I still left Studio 54 a happy camper. – at Studio 54, New York

THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE – Shubert Theatre, Chicago

January, 1982. Definitely not your grandfather's The Pirates of Penzance, Joseph Papp's smash 1981 Broadway version gave the Gilbert and Sullivan chestnut a thorough renovation, while respecting and honoring the terrific G&S musical bon-bons and the overall fun of the show. In New York, a stellar cast was assembled, including Kevin Kline, Estelle Parsons, George Rose, Rex Smith, and, in her Broadway debut, pop icon Linda Ronstadt. While not as stellar, perhaps, as its New York counterpart, Papp didn't stint touring audiences with an inferior cast. The cast of performers onstage at the Shubert were, indeed, a talented and lively lot. James Belushi, brother of John, was a lively, energetic, and very funny Pirate King. Peter Noone, yes, Herman's Hermits Peter Noone, was blonde, English, and charming as the young romantic male lead. Caroline Peyton, here billed "and introducing Caroline Peyton," sang beautifully and did everything right. Paul Ainsley, Marsha Bagwell, and Leo Leyden, all Broadway vets, gave the operetta some comic punch. Lovely to look at, exciting to hear, and staged and choreographed with verve, this was a thoroughly delightful night at the theatre. – at the Shubert Theatre, Chicago

PROMISES, PROMISES

Based on Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond's screenplay for the hit 1960 film, The Apartment, Promises, Promises is the, frankly, smarmy tale of an ambitious junior executive who curries favor and promotions with higher-ups by letting his apartment be used for senior executives' sexual trysts. Sexist and more than a bit misogynistic in theme, the creators, writer Neil Simon, composer Burt Bacharach, lyricist Hal David, director Robert Moore, and choreographer Michael Bennett, did the almost impossible and somehow created a show that was touching, funny, and honest. You might have found some of the morals involved objectionable, but everything and everyone had a humanity that made them real people with real people flaws. This was, surprisingly and unfortunately, Burt Bacharach and Hal David's only book musical. But what a score! Chockablock with one great tune after another, there's not a dud in the lot. Even the nominal villain of the piece gets a lovely ballad ("Wanting Things"). The big hit of the show, the quiet and unassuming "I'll Never Fall in Love Again," comes late in the show, right before the secondary big hit, "Promises, Promises," in which the male lead finally finds his moral compass. Both are wonderful, but why the smashing "Knowing When to Leave" and the knockout "Whoever You Are" did not become monster hits is a mystery. With electronic instruments, an amplified orchestra, an overture that crackled with excitement and, in my opinion, is one of musical theatre's best, and four female vocalists in the pit, Promises, Promises broke from the traditional Broadway sound and gave 1968 theatregoers a contemporary soft-rock experience that satisfied even the Broadway purists. And the icing on the cake? The insanely thrilling and absolutely nonsensical "Turkey Lurkey Time" which wraps up the first act and is one of the most inventive and exciting numbers ever in musical theatre. The lyrics are crazy, the melody is addictive, and in Michael Bennett's staging, it is pure joy. I am in love with "Turkey Lurkey Time." Promises, Promises opened in New York on December 1, 1968, received rave reviews, and ran nearly 1300 performances. It won two performance Tony Awards, and in a season not dominated by the groundbreaking 1776, would doubtless have won more. I love the show, but I'm not sure if it would play in today's environment.

Sidebar: A 2010 revival starring Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth had a critically indifferent nine-month run. Two popular Bacharach/David songs were interpolated into this version as a means to beef-up Chenoweth's part. Seriously? It's the female lead. She has two killer solos and two charming duets with the male lead. How much beefing-up do you need? The reviews liked Hayes, thought Chenoweth was miscast, and pretty much dismissed the whole thing as tired and dated.

 – Municipal Opera, St. Louis

From the back of Terrace B looking towards the stage. Yes, everyone was very small.

Looking back from near the front. About 1500 seats way in the back are free for every performance on a first come-first served basis. You're way back there, but, hey, it's free!

July, 1970. In July, 1970, producer David Merrick put his SRO smash hit, Promises, Promises, on a short hiatus, and brought the entire show to St. Louis for a week-long engagement at the city's revered 11,000 seat outdoor summer venue, the Municipal Opera, aka The Muny. From the far reaches of Row X in Terrace B, and that's a very far distance indeed, I watched Jerry Orbach, a graduate of my high school in Waukegan, captivate the huge audience with his Tony-winning performance as Chuck Baxter, whose apartment almost qualifies as a principal performer. Somehow he made the huge space seem almost intimate, and when he did one of his character's asides to the audience, you felt as if he was talking only to you. I was miles away from the stage (not really, but it felt like it); how did he do that? It was a polished, yet fresh performance, and when he launched into "She Likes Basketball," he exhibited a joy and exuberance that was refreshing and catching. I'd been mad about leading lady Jill O'Hara since I heard her first notes in "You'll Think of Someone" on the original cast album and had a huge crush on her with the intensity that only a nineteen-year-old boy could have. In person, she was even better, so perfectly cast as Fran Kubelik, you felt her heartbreak when her world started falling apart. She deftly walked the line between innocence and naivety, and you could sense the entire audience falling in love with her. Edward Winter, Cabaret's original Ernst, was the oddly sympathetic adulterer, thanks to his remarkable ballad, in a strong performance. Norman Shelly and Kay Oslin provided plenty of laughs as the sympathetic doctor and the bar pickup in the owl coat, respectively. Oslin's scene with Orbach in the bar on Christmas Eve is one of the funniest scenes Simon has ever written and the two of them had the Muny crowd in stitches. "Turkey Lurkey Time" had Bennett favorite Baayork Lee along with Adrienne Angel and Pam Blair dancing up a storm. I had a hard time believing I was in a massive outdoor venue and not in a Broadway house. A triumph. – at the Municipal Opera, St. Louis

Muny Tidbits: Promises, Promises wasn't the first time Merrick brought a show to the Muny during its Broadway run. The first was Hello, Dolly! with Pearl Bailey and Cab Calloway in 1968. Merrick also brought Mack and Mabel and The Baker's Wife to the Muny as part of their out-of-town tryouts. (I'm trying to picture the intimate The Baker's Wife in that huge venue.) Gypsy with Angela Lansbury and Lorelei with Carol Channing also stopped by the Muny on their way to Broadway. Debbie Reynolds' Irene, Lauren Bacall in Applause and Over Here! with the Andrews Sisters all interrupted their New York runs to play lucrative week-long engagements at the Muny. Costs weren't as astronomical then as they are now and shows haven't closed down for a week or two in New York to come to St. Louis since the 70s.

About Jill O'Hara: I met Jill O'Hara in person when I went to a cabaret performance in Philadelphia with my great pal, Lois, in 2009, and all of a sudden I became a love-struck nineteen-year-old again. Confessing my teenage crush, we laughed at long-gone youth and had a lovely chat of several minutes. O'Hara hasn't been on Broadway since she left the cast of Promises, Promises in 1970 to be replaced by her sister, Jenny, and has been largely absent from the theatre scene for decades, instead concentrating on her singing, cabaret, and recording career, which includes two highly praised CDs. Confession: I still have a crush on her!

– Shubert Theatre, Chicago

Top: Kelly Britt, Anthony Teague; Middle: Bob Holiday, Melissa Hart; Bottom: Anthony Teague, Melissa Hart, Jack Kruschen

November, 1970; January, 1971; April, 1971; May, 1971; July, 1971. Hmmm…. I guess I liked the show. Promises, Promises' First National Company swung by the Shubert Theatre for an open-end run that ended abruptly after a still-impressive thirty-four weeks. Starring Anthony Teague and personal favorite Melissa Hart, and featuring Bob Holiday, Broadway's Superman, as the adulterous J.D.Sheldrake, and Jack Kruschen, recreating his Academy Award nominated role in The Apartment as Dr. Dreyfuss, this was a polished, high-energy, audience-and-critic-pleasing replica of the New York production. Teague put his own spin on the part of Chuck Baxter, understated and quieter than Jerry Orbach's full-throttle performance, yet with an undeniable youthful charm. Hart was more of a powerhouse singer and actor than originator Jill O'Hara, but that gave her songs a theatricality and dynamism that was a nice opposite of O'Hara's gentler, almost folksy interpretations, and imbued her Fran Kubelik with an edge of worldliness. You believed her Fran had been around the block a few times, and not the unsullied innocent that Baxter pictures her. I was captivated. Kelly Britt, recreating her London role as bar pickup Marge MacDougall was hysterical, Holiday was handsome and appropriately sleazy as Sheldrake and made the most out of "Wanting Things," and Kruschen was feisty and adorable as Dreyfuss. Class production all around. – at the Shubert Theatre, Chicago

Abrupt Closings: The Sunday, June 27, 1971 Chicago Tribune featured a Promises ad promoting a special Sunday performance in two weeks and no indication of an impending closure. Tickets were still available at the box office and by mail, with seats available for all performances. The next day, a short three-sentence press notice announced the show's closing that Saturday. The company was disbanded, and, I suspect, the physical production was stored away until the bus-and-truck company started in September.

Cast Tidbits: Anthony Teague, as Scooter Teague, originated the part of Jimmy Curry in 110 in the Shade. In 1973, he would return to Chicago in the Bobby Van role in the touring No, No, Nanette. Melissa Hart came to the Promises tour directly after her four-performance run on Broadway in the ill-fated Georgy.

She won a Tony nomination for her performance as Georgy's best friend. Larry Douglas, one of the horny executives, was the original Lun Tha in The King and I and was the standby and, later, a replacement for Robert Preston in The Music Man. Barney Martin, another horny exec, would find his greatest fame a few years later as the original Amos Hart in Chicago with Gwen Verdon, Chita Rivera, and Promises' original leading man, Jerry Orbach. And, last, but certainly not least, in the Ensemble was a young lady named Eva Sue Newcomer. No, I am not making that up. She played a Dentist's Nurse, a Clancy's Employee, and an Intern's Date. Nothing on Ms. Newcomer in ibdb.com and a Google search comes up empty. So…was this an alias? Inquiring minds want to know.

– Shubert Theatre, New York

June, 1971. On my first "official" trip to New York, on the heels of two parents-had-no-knowledge "unofficial" trips, I paid a visit to my then-favorite musical. (Note: I saw this on a Wednesday evening. Three days later on that Saturday evening, June 12, 1971, to be exact, I would see Follies for the first time and my world would change.) Cabaret crush Gene Rupert was now in the Jerry Orbach role, and that was the main reason I went. Jenny O'Hara, originator Jill O'Hara's older sister, was now playing Fran. I scored a seat in front row on the right side and enjoyed the hell out of the evening. Rupert and O'Hara both gave assured, solid performances, with O'Hara, perhaps not surprisingly, sounding like her younger sister. James Congdon was an effective douchebag as J.D. Sheldrake, Norman Shelly continued to supply hearty laughs as Dr. Dreyfuss, and Marilyn Child was now wearing the owl coat at Clancy's and very funny doing so. Nothing was especially "wow" about the performance, but it was as professional as a long-run show can get, now over 2 ½ years on Broadway, still fresh, still exciting. – at the Shubert Theatre, New York

– Auditorium Theatre, Chicago

February, 2001. For two or three years, Chicago's historic Auditorium Theatre was home to Ovations!: Concert Celebrations of Great American Musicals. This was based on New York's wildly successful Encores! Featuring a full 28-piece orchestra, little scenery and script-carrying performers in evening wear, this was an earnest, more low-key, less starry affair than the New York inspiration. Chicago legend Roy Leonard acted as the Narrator, something that wasn't needed and not done in Encores!, but was well-received by the Chicago crowd. Stars George Hearn as J.D. Sheldrake, Jason Graae as Chuck Baxter, future Tony-winner Dick Latessa as Dr. Dreyfuss, and Chicago favorite Susan Moniz as Fran Kubelik delivered the goods with professionalism, even if Hearn was a bit florid in "Wanting Things." I especially liked Graae, an exceptionally likeable performer who gave Baxter an almost naughty boy charm. He was wonderful. In the ensemble and supporting roles were Chicago stalwarts Ray Frewen, Catherine Lord, Cory Goodrich, and Aaron Thielen (now artistic director at Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre). Ensemble member James Moye would be seen a year or so later as a compelling File in Signature Theatre's (Arlington, VA) 110 in the Shade, and we would see him turn in an outstanding performance filling in for an ailing Peter Gallagher in the Broadway revival of On the Twentieth Century. The late and beloved Rachel Rockwell played lead dancer Vivien Della Hoya. The show itself seemed a bit dated and a bit offensive in the early 21st century, though the laughs were still there and the music as infectious and fresh as always. Ovations!, sadly, couldn't make it for whatever reason and it faded from the Chicago scene. – at the Auditorium Theatre, Chicago

And that's it for now. Later, Gator!

© 2018 Jeffrey Geddes

ALPHABET SOUP (7) - FEATURING A RANDOM LETTER OF THE ALPHABET AND SOME SHOWS THAT BEGIN WITH THAT LETTER

ALPHABET SOUP (7) -

FEATURING A RANDOM LETTER OF THE ALPHABET AND SOME SHOWS THAT BEGIN WITH THAT LETTER

Happy 2016! For the first post of the new year, I thought I'd go to my blue London coffee mug and pick a letter and select the first few shows from that letter's pile of programs.

To kick off the new year, today's letter is ….

F

Here's some of what "F" has to offer… two all-but-forgotten plays and and two pre-Broadway tryouts. Let's begin.

FINISHING TOUCHES – Studebaker Theatre, Chicago

Way back then, it was no problem scurrying up to the upper reaches of the top balcony.

March, 1974. Jean Kerr was an Erma Bombeck-like essayist (or was Erma Bombeck a Jean Kerr-like essayist?) whose essays and books about her family and suburban life were like Bombeck's, but infused with a homey, but knowing, sophistication. Her most famous book, Please Don't Eat the Daisies, was adapted for the dated, but still very funny film of the same name starring Doris Day and David Niven. She was the wife of renowned theatre critic, Walter Kerr. As a playwright, her biggest hit was Mary, Mary which ran for over 1500 performances and for quite a while was the longest-running non-musical Broadway production. In Jean Kerr's world, nothing terribly heavy or serious happens. Oh, heavy and serious things threaten to occur, more or less, but with a few well-placed gags, those heavy and serious things disappear in audience laughter. A devout Catholic, she pretty-much toed the Church line, which makes her plays today play as dated, even a bit unbelievably naïve, period pieces. It's sort of like watching early Neil Simon. You still laugh, but perhaps not as often as you did when the work was new. In Finishing Touches, Kerr takes us to the well-designed home (courtesy of Ben Edwards) of the Cooper family. Mr. Cooper is a college professor suffering from a case of mid-life crises and student infatuation. Mrs. Cooper, his faithful and stalwart wife, in a bit of retaliation, dallies with the idea of having an affair with their handsome neighbor. The eldest son, a college senior, brings home his actress girlfriend and, the parents, not pleased that he's, gasp, slept with the lass, forbid that sort of activity in their house. No affairs happen, of course, because in a Jean Kerr play that sort of thing just isn't done, and everything ends happily and the audience leaves feeling satisfied. Directed by Joseph Anthony and featuring several of the original Broadway cast, I laughed a lot and was charmed by the performances given by celebrated stage/film/television actress Barbara Bel Geddes (in a body of work that included an Academy Award nomination and creating the role of Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, she is, somewhat perversely, best-known for her Emmy-winning role as Miss Ellie in the television soap, Dallas), Robert ("Twelve O'Clock High") Lansing, Gene Rupert and the wonderful Jill O'Hara. Never a smash hit, and perhaps too wholesome for 1973 New York audiences, the show did much better on the road. I liked it; I can't see anyone doing it today. – at the Studebaker Theatre, Chicago

From the Six Degrees of Separation Department: Gene Rupert appeared in the New York company of Promises, Promises with Jenny O'Hara, Jill's older sister. Jill O'Hara created the role that her sister played opposite Rupert, introduced "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" to the world, and won a Tony nomination in the process. I saw Jill in PP at the Muny in St. Louis and a year or so earlier had seen Rupert as Cliff Bradshaw in the national tour of Cabaret at Chicago's Shubert.  Want more? Janis Paige was Doris Day's nemesis in the film Please Don't Eat the Daisies. Janis Paige created the role of Babe Williams in The Pajama Game on Broadway. Doris Day played the role in the film. I'm not making this stuff up.

FATHER'S DAY – Ivanhoe Theatre, Chicago

November, 1973. I don't know what motivated producer George Keathley to mount a production of Oliver Hailey's 1971 one-performance Broadway flop, Father's Day, at the Ivanhoe, and I'm sure by the time the endeavor was over, he was wondering that exact thing. I know what motivated me…the opportunity to see Chita Rivera for the first time. Mind you, this is 1973 Chita Rivera, already a bankable star, but not yet the iconic legend she is today. In fact, her program bio states, "Miss Rivera looks forward to the new musical Chicago being written especially for her and co-star Gwen Verdon…," a show that would premiere some 18 months later. Broadway flop or not, Time magazine's T.E. Kalem, usually an astute critic, chose it as one of the year's ten best plays. Here's the thing, though. I remember nothing about this play. Zero. Nada. Zip. And for a production, that's not good because it means it was neither good enough nor awful enough to register in the memory bank. William Leonard's review in the Chicago Tribune implied that it was predictable and messy. And despite Mr. Leonard's claim re: directorship of the play, the program doesn't list a director. Anywhere. Not on the credits page, not in the bios. You know the thing didn't direct itself, but when a director doesn't want it known that he/she was responsible for the goings-on onstage, well, that implies it was indeed a very rough haul to opening night. According to Chita Rivera's webpage, she considered Father's Day an "exquisite experience in the theater" and based on the success (??) of the Ivanhoe engagement, was produced to better reviews and a longer run off-Broadway in 1979. I'll take your word for it, Chita. Lest it be thought that Mr. Hailey was a hack, he achieved great success as a writer for television and wrote for several leading series of the day. He just couldn't crack the playwriting code and all three of his Broadway tries were one-performance wonders. Samuel French holds the rights, if anyone's interested. – at the Ivanhoe Theatre, Chicago

FOUR ON A GARDEN – Palace Theatre, Milwaukee

I love it when I find intact old-school tickets.

My first visit to 1776 was in Milwaukee and Uihlein Hall. Hair was coming to the Palace and Gloria Swanson was ready for her closeup in the innocuous Butterflies Are Free, a wildly popular show back then.

An undated picture of the Palace's interior. I suspect this was taken during the theatre's heyday as a movie palace. I don't remember it being this grand.

The original poster co-starring Barry Nelson. The design tells you nothing about the show, but implies Channing will be playing an older Lorelei Lee.

December, 1970. Well, shades of Plaza Suite, but, instead of taking place in a hotel suite, the (in)action of the Broadway-bound Abe Burrows' adaptation of a work by French théâtre de boulevard masters Pierre Barillet and Jean-Pierre Gredy (Cactus Flower, Forty Carats) took place in a garden apartment in Manhattan. And it was Four on a Garden in name only. Somewhere along the way from New Haven, where the tryout started, to Milwaukee's Palace Theatre, one of the playlets got dropped, presumably for rewrites and other such tryout-y things, and the title really should have been Three on a Garden. The missing playlet would be restored in time for its New York opening a few weeks after the Milwaukee run. Four, three, it didn't really matter. The show was a dog. And this was a play that had Oliver Smith and Martin Aronstein and William McHone on the design team, Abe Burrows as the director, David Merrick as the producer and Carol Channing and Sid Caesar as its stars. How could this go wrong? Well, for starters, the play just wasn't funny. Oh, there were funny, very funny, bits and bobs throughout the evening, but anything remotely humorous was due to the comedic skills of Channing and Caesar, who both could wring a laugh out of a stone. The two stars both worked their asses off and used every trick in their considerable arsenals to breathe some life into the proceedings and we loved them for it, but it was like beating the proverbial dead horse. No amount of comic genius or star presence could save this despite the skill and professionalism of the folks involved. It looked great and was directed with a crisp pace, but it was a lost cause. Broadway vet George S. Irving was in the cast, though I can't remember him. Also, a young Tom Lee Jones (now known as Oscar-winner Tommy Lee Jones) who back then was very hot. I do remember him. The Milwaukee critics loved Channing and Caesar, hated the play. I pretty much felt the same way. – at the Palace Theatre, Milwaukee

Meanderings and related Garden thoughts:

 o The Palace Theatre was demolished in 1974 to make way for a hotel.

 o Carol Channing is one of those performers who more or less owes their entire career to a signature role. In Channing's case, it was two signature roles: Lorelei Lee and Dolly Levi. Four on a Garden was only Channing's second non-musical role on Broadway, the first was a forgotten flop long before Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. After the quick closing of Garden, Channing went back to more familiar, and safer, fare, reprising Lorelei Lee in a "new" version of Blondes called Lorelei (it was entertaining, but not terribly good and Channing was far too old to be playing the role) and bringing Dolly! back to Broadway in two revivals. But just because she built her career on two roles, it would be foolish to underestimate Channing's talents. She's justly acclaimed for her razor-sharp timing, her inimitable voice that can go from basso profondo to squeaky soprano in two seconds flat, and for her dead-on impressions. She could read the phone book and have you weak from laughter. (And before anyone starts on about her role in Thoroughly Modern Millie, her performance was a mix of Lorelei Lee and Dolly Levi. I felt she was wrong for the part and the Academy Award nomination was her consolation prize for the loss of the film of Hello, Dolly! to the woefully miscast Barbra Streisand.) Carol Channing is old-school pro and she's earned her legendary status.

o Four on the Garden started off in New Haven with Barry Nelson as the male lead. By the time the show reached Pittsburgh, one week before the Milwaukee engagement, he was out of the show, either by choice or by request, and replaced by Sid Caesar.

o Four on the Garden arrived in New York immediately following Milwaukee's run. It played a very long preview period, opened to terrible reviews and closed after a short, unprofitable run. I tried reading the play a few years ago and couldn't get through it.

FIRST WIVES CLUB – Oriental Theatre, Chicago

The oddly-designed marquee.

An audience survey form which I diplomatically did not fill out.

See what I mean? What is with this design? This inattention to detail was, sadly, present throughout the production.

February, 2015. On its second pre-Broadway shakedown, "First Wives Club" was definitely not ready for Broadway and needed to return to the musical hospital for some more surgery. Stat! The three talented leading ladies, Faith Prince, Carmen Cusack and Christine Sherrill, deserved a better book, a better director, and, most importantly, a better score. Loaded with either power ballads that all sound alike and ear-splittingly amplified or filler songs that were just not good, the show, remarkably, and in spite of itself, was entertaining and enjoyable. The book by Linda Bloodworth Thomason often reminded me of an episode of "Designing Women" and sometimes pushed too hard for a laugh. Sorry, Linda, no laugh track in the theatre. The choreography by David Connolly was not terribly inspired and was still being executed with some trepidation by the mostly extraneous ensemble. (Not their fault; there was just no real reason for them to be there.) The husbands were all professional and competent, but forgettable. Patrick Richwood as the gay BFF was cringe-worthy…all stereotype and offensive; the type of portrayal I thought died a long time ago. The first act was definitely better than the second. The second started off with an embarrassingly bad production number and things sort of lurched towards the finale from there. Missing and greatly missed was the movie's iconic finale of "You Don't Own Me." Final thoughts: For the most part, this was fun and one should never miss the opportunity to see Faith Prince chew some scenery. The modestly-sized audience seemed to enjoy it, though there was a fair share of interval departees. Is it Broadway material? No. Could it do well in regional and amateur theatre circles? Absolutely. - at the Oriental Theatre, Chicago

Sidebar: The show's logo/marquee confused me. One of the wives appeared to be African-American, yet the wives in Chicago were all very white and, with one exception, so was the rest of the cast. Odd design. However, on further research, I may have solved the mystery. The show had its first tryout in the summer of 2009 at San Diego's Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park and starred Barbara Walsh, Karen Ziemba and Sheryl Lee Ralph, hence the design with two Caucasian and one African-American first wives.  The male leads, such as they are in this show, included Brad Oscar, John Dossett and Sam Harris. The Chicago casting, while using talented folks indeed, was, with the exception of Prince, less "starry" than the San Diego cast. My question to the producers is this…you spent all this money mounting another production of a show that didn't get terribly good reviews the first time out, but you couldn't spend a few lousy bucks to redo the logo? Really?

Next week…a BONUS Alphabet Soup featuring "F"!!. See you soon!

© 2016 Jeffrey Geddes