Vampin' Lady: The Music of Milton Ager
Is The Show To See!
Our latest find is "Vampin' Lady" with vocalist Joyce Moody and musical director Earl Wentz on the piano at Don't Tell Mama on Restaurant Row in Manhattan.
"Vampin' Lady" is a 60-minute-long lalapalooza of a tribute to American composer Milton Ager, whose songs include Hard Hearted Hannah (The Vamp of Savannah), Ain't She Sweet, I'm Nobody's Baby, and more standards than you'd think would be possible to come from the pen of one man.
Vocalist Joyce Moody packs quite a wallop, knocking you out with her powerful belt, then breaking your heart with soft mellow stylings on the ballads. That's a classically-trained, legit mezzo-soprano you hear suddenly soaring through the haunting, I Wonder What's Become of Sally by the way. Just as suddenly she'll switch to a down and blue version of the overlooked I Hate Myself (For Saying the Things I Said) and pep it up again in a rhythmic Charleston like Crazy Words, Crazy Tune. You're in for a treat!
Noted pianist and arranger, Earl Wentz, who created the American Composer Series whose banner "Vampin' Lady" is playing under, supports Moody with finesse all the way and steps out for a piano riff or two of his own for lucky lovers of virtuosic piano playing.
But don't just take our word for it...read some of the rave reviews at "Vampin' Lady" at the Sixpence, Inc. website, at the "Cabaret Scenes" online edition, and from the "Cabaret Scenes" print edition.
"Vampin' Lady" is presented by Wenhelm Productions' American Composer Series and Sixpence, Inc. (who produced the accompanying "Vampin' Lady" cd ). Catch it at Don't Tell Mama, 343 W. 46th Street, while the fun lasts!
| Getting There:
Don't Tell Mama is on Restaurant Row (46th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues) in midtown Manhattan.
By Subway: (Options abound!)
8th Avenue Subway - "A", "C", or "E" train to 42nd Street/Port Authority. Exit and walk 4 blocks north on 8th Avenue. Turn left on 46th Street and walk about a half a block.
7th Avenue Subway - "1", "2", or "3" train to 42nd Street/Times Square. Exit and walk one block west to 8th Avenue. Turn left on 46th Street and walk about half a block.
Broadway Subway - "N", "Q", "R", "W" train to 42nd Street/Times Square. Exit and walk one block west to 8th Avenue. Turn left on 46th Street and walk about half a block.
42nd Street/Flushing Subway - "7" train to 42nd Street/Times Square. Exit and walk one block west to 8th Avenue. Turn left on 46th Street and walk about half a block.42nd Street Shuttle Subway - "S" train from Grand Central Station to 42nd Street/Times Square. Exit and walk one block west to 8th Avenue. Turn left on 46th Street and walk about half a block.
By Taxi:
Restaurant Row is cruised regularly by yellow taxi cabs that can be hailed from the curb. The competition can be fierce depending on time of day and weather! |
Enter Laughing Will Keep You Howling
Get a ticket if you can for Enter Laughing - called by The New York Post, "the funniest tuner to hit town since The Producers." Just extended through October 26 by the plucky York Theatre Company, an off-Broadway company in an unlikely spot beneath New York's landmark Citigroup Center, Enter Laughing will keep you entertained with the musical antics of a young man from the Bronx yearning to break into show business. He's nearly as inexperienced and inept in that arena as he is with women, who occupy his remaining thoughts.
Josh Grisetti, a rubber-faced newcomer with an uncanny resemblance to the late Ray Bolger and a knowing intelligence hidden behind his hang-dog expressions, gives a breakthrough performance as David Kolowitz, the awkward, 17-year-old, star-struck bumbler, loosely based on television writer and performer Carl Reiner, whose novel provided the source material.
The conflicts in the story revolve around the competing demands of David's parents (played here by Jill Eikenberry and Michael Tucker) who want their son to be a pharmacist, his girlfriend Wanda (the charming, big-voiced Emily Shoolin), his boss (Ray DeMattis), and various women who pop into his life. David busily tries to please them all but - alas! - what he really wants is to be an actor. Though severely challenged in the talent department, he finally gets his chance - teaming with a down and out acting company (although he has to pay for the privilege).
Robb Sapp gives a spot-on performance as David's best friend, a slightly dopey and perpetually randy fellow who stands in awe of every minor conquest that David makes with women. Janine LaManna is riotously funny in the role of the man-crazy leading lady of the theatre company who suffers the slings and arrows of David's inept performance with comic skill. A stand-out is veteran trouper and master comedian George S. Irving as the beleaguered theatre director. Irving gives a lesson in comic timing with every inflection and artfully-raised eyebrow. In a fantasy sequence in which David imagines himself at the call of every beautiful star in Hollywood for his amorous attentions, Irving's The Butler's Song is a bawdy, hilarious, show stopper.
These are the kind of performances that get remembered come awards season. When Grisetti's as rich and famous as his alter ego David Kolowitz dreams of being, you can say you saw it here first.
Enter Laughing is a slightly-revised version of the 1976 show, So Long, 174th Street, which was originally a failure when it bowed on Broadway, exiting quickly after just 16 performances. Its luster is restored here in its Off-Broadway debut.
The show's got pedigree to spare: Stan Daniels, who later went on to create the long-running television series Taxi wrote the charming and funny score; that Broadway master Joseph Stein, who gave us a little something called Fiddler on the Roof a few seasons ago, wrote the book, based squarely in his 1960s play and film, which in turn was based on the Carl Reiner novel.
The whole thing is deftly directed by Stuart Ross (Forever Plaid) who finds every bit of the comedy and tempers it with the underlying sweetness in this story of a loveable bumbler on the brink. He serves it up imaginatively with 14 actors playing multiple roles in the relatively small confines of the York's space in the basement of St. Peter's Church.
We need to give special mention to James Morgan's set designs, creatively making use of the theatre's space, and evoking the many different places the numerous scenes require - from the kitchen of a Bronx tenement, to the machine shop where David spends his work days, to the stage of a down at heel theatre school - with economy and delightful flourishes. It's great to see that space used so imaginatively and is a reminder that a little imagination often goes a lot further than all that a big budget can provide.
Enter Laughing is the definition of musical comedy. This production is a tribute to the Off-Broadway can-do spirit that's been lacking in town for a long time.
Tickets: Call the box office (212) 935-5820 weekdays from noon until 6:00 p.m. to purchase tickets without a service charge. Also available online (and at an extra premium) at OvationTix.com. This show has been breaking box-office records, so if you're interested, call soon!
| Getting There:
The York Theatre Company plays in The Theatre at St. Peter's Church (underneath an overhang of the easy-to-spot Citigroup Center) at 619 Lexington Avenue (between 53rd and 54th Street) on the eastside of midtown Manhattan. Due to renovations being made to the church and the Citigroup building, the current entrance is on Lexington Avenue just south of 54th Street. Look for the signs - spotting it may be difficult. Take the elevator down to LL2.
By Subway:
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"E" or "V" train to Lexington Avenue/53rd Street. Note: The "V" train runs on weekdays only.
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Lexington Avenue Subway - "6" train to 51st Street. "4" or "5" trains to Lexington Ave./59th Street. Exit and walk 5 blocks south.
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Broadway Subway - "N", "R", "W" train to Lexington Ave./59th Street. Exit and walk 5 blocks south.
By Taxi:
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