Crazy for You features music
and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin and book by Ken Ludwig. Taking place in
the 1930’s in New York City and Nevada, it is a tale about a boy with big
showbiz dreams, his mother who has her own agenda for his banking career, the
small town country girl he falls for and her big money problem that he attempts
to solve. With Broadway veterans Kirby Ward, who also directed, and Beverly
Ward leading the way as Bobby Child and Polly Barker; this classic musical was
sure to thrill the audience and for most it did.
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| Beverly Ward as Polly Baker (center) and ensemble perform "I Got Rhythm". Courtesy Reagle Music Theatre/©Herb Philpott |
Ward,
as Polly, beautifully sang the well-known “Someone to Watch Over Me” ballad,
while her husband’s rendition of “They Can’t Take That Away from Me” was
equally smooth and delightful. While both Kirby and Beverly Ward were enjoyable
to watch, the standout performances of the night came from the multiple,
energetic dance numbers featuring most of the cast dancing to original
choreography from Susan Stroman that was re-staged by Eileen Grace. The tap
dancing was superb and well executed by the talented cast. “Slap That Bass” was
fun and enjoyable to watch while “I Got Rhythm” was a fantastic closing to act
one.
The
orchestra, led by music director and conductor Dan Rodriguez was truly in their
element playing the fantastic Gershwin music. They were enjoyable to listen to.
Unfortunately, they often over powered the ensemble soloist’s one line vocal
parts, but that seems to be a regular sound problem of this theatre, one that could
easily be fixed.
“What
Causes That?” and the scene leading into it was near-perfectly executed by
Kirby Ward as Bobby pretending to be Bela Zangler and Matthew Zahnzinger as the
real Bela Zangler. Their mirroring movements had the audience chuckling and it
was easily the best non-dance-number scene in the show.
While
the show itself sounded good and had great dancing; the overall production was
greatly diminished by one of the worst design choices I have seen at this
theatre. Reflective mirrors or mirror-like material was used in the saloon set
as part of the bar and unfortunately the lights easily bounced right off of it
and into the eyes of the audience. Many of whom had to use their programs to
shield their eyes or - I kid you not - put on their sunglasses in order to continue
watching the scene. Personally, I alternated between closing my eyes and
positioning myself right behind the head of the gentleman in front of me to
decrease the awful effect. I expected this issue to be addressed during
intermission as it was quite obviously a problem. After intermission I noticed
many people in my section had moved from their seats to empty center seats or
much further back in the auditorium in order to diminish the effect, which had
not been corrected, before act two. While this was the biggest issue with the
set, the other was the large amount of scenery and set pieces being used that made
for longer transitions. Granted, transitions can always be tightened during a
run, but the need for full size set pieces to depict every location is not
always necessary. That being said, the set was detailed in its design and added
grandeur to the show. The original
costume design by William Ivey Long also added grandeur especially those costumes
for Zangler’s Follies production.
Crazy for You plays until
August 14th, 2016 at the Robinson Theatre (617 Lexington Street, Waltham, MA.
For information and tickets visit www.reaglemusictheatre.
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| Kirby Ward as Bobby Child and Beverly Ward as Polly Baker (center) and ensemble. Courtesy Reagle Music Theatre/©Herb Philpott |
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