Hollywood Revisited/conceived by Greg Schreiner/directed & choreographed by Joshua Finkel
Where has all the Hollywood glamour of yesteryear gone? Thanks to the resourcefulness of producer, narrator and pianist Greg Schreiner, the revue Hollywood Revisited brings it all back, at least for a few fleeting moments. Revisited has become a resoundingly popular success with audiences over the past few years. On Sunday October 9, the show performed a concert at the Bellflower Civic Auditorium, just one of its many local gigs. The show performs not only in SoCal but all over the country as well as on Crystal Cruises. Schreiner, who has collected more than 350 original costumes from Hollywood films over the last decades, showcases the costumes in quite a novel way. Singers/dancers model them while engaging the audience in songs from the Golden Age of Cinema.
First, there is a film photo projected on a large screen onstage, Schreiner talks about the film and its stars and tells an anecdote about the costume the star is wearing. For example, there is a photo of Tony Curtis from Spartacus. Cinemascope came in in the 50s and with it, as Schreiner tells us, big budget epic films like The Ten Commandments. Joshua Finkel comes out in a toga worn by Curtis in Spartacus and sings Sondheim's "Lovely" from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Finkel has a lot of fun as, bare-chested, he struts about a la Hercules, flexing his muscles to the delight of ladies in the audience. Lovely Elisa Surmont wears Edith Head's design for Bette Davis in All About Eve - the famous Fasten Your Seat Belts dress - and sings "But Alive" from Applause, the Broadway musical of All About Eve. Before her entrance, Schreiner tells the story of how Davis was a last-minute replacement for Claudette Colbert in Eve and many of Head's dresses were too big for the petite star. So Schreiner's setup story and the onscreen photo serve as an enticement to actually seeing the costumes live...it's nothing short of breathtaking, and the musical arrangements for the songs are often delightfully amusing and campy to watch, especially as performed by the talented Finkel, Surmont and Jill Burke.
Other musical highlights of the show include: "The Impossible Dream", "When You've Got It, Flaunt It", "Baubles, Bangles and Beads", "My Heart Belongs to Daddy", "Million Dollar Baby", "Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better", "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes", "Hit Me with a Hot Note", "Cry Me a River" and "That's Entertainment". Finkel has a field day with his The Flintstones costume in leopard as well as one worn by Arnold S. in the remake of Around the World in Eighty Days. Jill Burke has many truly fine moments, especially wearing Liza Minnelli's red gown from New York, New York, and wearing Cher's gold dress and Mitzi Gaynor's flashy cape with ruffled collar, both designed by Bob Mackie. Surmont camps up Carmen Miranda, Jeanette McDonald and Marilyn Monroe, whose gorgeous dress for "Happy Birthday Mr. President" eluded Schreiner, but he did manage to purchase its replica from The Women of Camelot in 2001. Schreiner not only accompanies splendidly on piano throughout but wears a couple of over-the-top dazzling costumes himself including a cape worn by Barbra Streisand on her concert tour, and a gold lame outfit for George Hamilton in Zorro the Gay Blade.
This is a uniquely entertaining evening not to be missed. Visit Hollywood Revisited in a city near you, and in the meantime,
go to: www.hollywoodrevisited.com
