What a wonderful thing it is to spend an evening in the theatre and have your expectations exceeded. The McCallum Theatre is presenting quite an impressive and varied array of theatrical offerings this spring, but I believe last night’s CY COLEMAN’S BROADWAY might have been the unexpected “jewel” in their season. It was truly a valentine to one of Broadway and popular music’s most prolific composers and the celebration of a songbook that leaves you wondering – “Did he ever write anything that wasn’t a hit”?
Cy Coleman was a child prodigy who, at the age of five, was giving piano recitals at Carnegie Hall. Before tackling the worlds of Broadway and popular music, he led the Cy Coleman Trio, which was quite successful in both the jazz recording and nightclub arenas. Despite his classical and jazz successes he decided to venture into popular music and with collaborator Dorothy Fields he wrote dozens of popular hits including “Witchcraft” and “The Best Is Yet To Come”. His numerous Broadway triumphs include Wildcat, Little Me, Seesaw, Sweet Charity, Barnum, The Will Rogers Follies, I Love My Wife, On The Twentieth Century, City of Angels and The Life. Coleman was nominated for 19 Tony Awards, of which he won five including Best Musical for both The Will Rogers Follies and City of Angels, and won three Emmy Awards and two Grammy Awards. He died in 2004 at the age of 75.
CY COLEMAN’S BROADWAY began with a performance by the composer himself – a film clip from the 1959 television show Playboy After Dark which featured Coleman at the piano crooning one of his most recorded popular standards, “Witchcraft”. The evening was purposely intimate and informal, elegantly and eloquently hosted by Michael Kerker, Director of Musical Theatre for ASCAP. The tone was refreshingly impromptu and “unrehearsed” – and I mean that as a high compliment
The performances were stellar, beginning with the comic genius of Jason Graae. Jason has the ability to take even very weak material and make it magic. You can imagine what he was able to do with such great lyrics and melodies. Jason performed “You Fascinate Me So”, lyrics by Carolyn Leigh, and the not oft performed “I’ve Got Your Number” from Little Me. Perhaps his most stand-out number was a wonderful interpretation of “The Best IS Yet To Come” which proved, once again, he is a man who knows how to deliver a great lyric.
Tami Tappan Damiano opened with the classic “Nobody Does It Like Me” from Seesaw. Her range and depth, as always, shown through in every number – particularly the hauntingly beautiful “With Every Breath I Take” from City of Angels. She also had the opportunity to show off her wonderful comic abilities with the terrific “Never” from On The Twentieth Century.
Carol Woods nearly (and I repeat “nearly” because the entire cast was on top of their game) stole the show with “The Oldest Profession” from The Life. Entering the stage in faux-leopard bedroom slippers she delivered an acting and vocal performance that was one for the “how to” textbooks. Adding to the wonderfully impromptu feel of the show, she also performed “Those Hands” from Like Jazz with the sheet music on music stands in front of her, like you would find in a staged reading of a new musical. Mr. Kerker noted that number was added at the eleventhe hour. When she fluffed a lyric, she stopped the show and started again noting that these lyrics deserved better. And she gave it.
David Zippel, the brilliant lyricist of City of Angels and so much more, co-hosted with Mr. Kerker and as they chatted away about Cy Coleman’s life and career it felt like eavesdropping on a candid conversation between friends. On of the evening’s highlights was when Mr. Zippel himself performed a number from Pamela’s First Musical – “I Know What I Like”, a patter song sung by the character of a jaded Broadway critic who lambastes everything and everyone Broadway … including patter songs. Pamela’s First Musical has never had a first class run because both Coleman and Wendy Wasserstein (the book writer) sadly passed away before a production could be mounted.
