Doris Day's Story A Sentimental Journey an Unqualified Hit @ the El Portal

A Sentimental Journey
The Story of Doris Day
by Adam Rolston
directed by Alvin Rakoff
El Portal Mainstage
through November 20

A Sentimental Journey is quite a surprisingly realistic but entertaining look at the highs and lows of Doris Day's life with sparkling performances from Sally Hughes, Conor Sheridan as Terry Melcher and a terrific ensemble of players: Elizabeth Elvin, Tom Sellwood and Nick Waring, directed endearingly by Alvin Rakoff! Incorporating Day's major musical hits, A Sentimental Journey, a surefire audience pleaser comes to us straight from England and is docked on the El Portal Mainstage through November 20 only!.

Fans of Day may be astonished at the difficulties Doris Kappelhoff experienced in her life - early years with an alcoholic father, three abusive marriages and a drug-abusive son, not to mention an auto accident that shattered her leg and her first crack at Hollywood, a chance to become a professional dancer on film. It was hardly a bed of roses for the squeaky-clean star, as several would love to imagine. Singing was not her first love and did not come easy to her. Journey, which was a huge hit for writer Adam Rolston at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, keeps its story intimate with a basic set, set pieces and an orchestra center stage. It is the responsibility of the talented ensemble to convey the rags to riches tale as simply and credibly as possible, and that they surely do. Hughes as Day has a glorious singing voice which sounds remarkably like Day's. She is effervescent and lovely to watch. Sheridan as son Terry serves as narrator of the piece, a wise device that works quite well. Melcher was Day's son from her first marriage to musician Al Jordan and was adopted by Marty Melcher, her third husband. Considered rather an outsider, the younger Melcher had a keen eye that helped to save his mother from elder Melcher's destructiveness and so his proximity to and understanding of his mother's troubles makes him a rather ideal choice to narrate. Sheridan does outstanding work as the lost, misunderstood record producer. Elvin, Sellwood and Waring play every character in the story including Alma, Day's mother, the three husbands and Frank Sinatra, to name a few. They sing, dance and act with a consistent fervor.

Song highlights include: "Que Sera Sera", "It's Magic", "Love Me or Leave Me", "Young at Heart", "It Could Happen to You" and of course the title song. A standout segment at the top of Act II is "The Deadwood Stage" from Calamity Jane, one of fourteen musical films Day did for Warner Brothers. A Sentimental Journey, however, fulfills a lot more promise than a musical revue or a play with music. It's a musical that is not afraid to explore the darker sides of Day's life. It could be simply a collection of Hollywood film anecdotes with no depth whatsoever, but Rolston's entire dramatic panorama of the life of this woman, whose sole dream was to be a happy wife and mother, is cleanly structured and portrayed. Another tribute to its book is the inclusion of her current life in Carmel as animal activist, which brings the substance of her life full circle.

With a little tweak here and a change or two there, A Sentimental Journey should make a perfect off-Broadway show. Rolston's book, the traditional musical numbers and five-member cast all add up to...a very successful and enjoyable evening. "It's magic"!