Gilbert & Sullivan with a twist at the Triad
Oscar E Moore from the rear mezzanine for Talk Entertainment.com
There is a new Gilbert & Sullivan musical revue “I’ve Got a Little Twist” which I reluctantly went to see Sunday at Off-Broadway’s Triad Theatre (158 West 72 Street) featuring six stars of the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players company. I have never been a huge fan of G&S. I have been trying to avoid seeing anything to do with G&S for fear that I would be bored and have to write a negative review.
Well, I wasn’t bored and neither will you – even if you know nothing about Gilbert & Sullivan you will be entertained royally by the six very talented cast members. According to the director and Master of Ceremonies for the evening – the very tall, slender and witty David Auxier – “Broadway Musical Theater is the Living Legacy of G&S” – and therein lies the delightful gimmick that allows the cast to juxtapose songs from The Mikado, H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and Iolanthe with well known Broadway show tunes. This works beautifully and David Auxier has written some very funny lyrics to some tired old G&S gems which make them sparkle anew.
Case in point: “The Nightmare Song” becomes “The Commuter’s Nightmare” combined with “New York, New York” from On The Town. It is a merry romp and the highlight of the evening where each member of the ensemble gets to shine. Stephen Quint (a combination of Dudley Moore and Martin Short) is the G&S comic baritone, Michele McConnell the lovely soprano, Colm Fitzmaurice the charming Irish tenor, David Wannen the hunky bass baritone and Angela Smith (who later on brings the house down with “Love, Look Away” from Flower Drum Song are very special indeed.
Sunday’s rowdy and rambunctious audience embraced the show with open arms and lots of cheering. Even though I felt the revue a bit uneven, the overall effect is very interesting, well paced and extremely entertaining. The singing is first rate. And it’s quite funny. Musical director, Mark York does a fine job at the piano.
To prove their point even further about the “legacy” that G&S left to future Broadway composers, we get to hear variations on “the patter song” starting with “I am the very model of a modern Major-General” which then segues into Sondheim’s “Getting Married Today” – Meredith Wilson’s “Rock Island”/”Pick-A-Little,Talk-A-Little”, Gershwin & Weill’s “Tschaikowsky”, Jerry Herman’s “Mame” and Lerner & Lowe’s “My Mother’s Weddin’ Day”. It is a great ending to the revue and the audience went understandably wild.
Playing Thursdays at 7PM and Sunday’s at 5:30PM. Cover charge: $40.00 & $30.00 with a 2 drink (cash only) minimum. Children admitted. For seating call 212 769 1000.
Rememeber my new blog www.oscaremoore.com
01-12-09
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