Darius de Haas, Betsy Wolfe, Elena Shaddow, Aaron C. Finley, Ann Harada, Greg Hildreth

 

 

                                                   by Deirdre Donovan

 

 Kathleen Marshall hosts the 92 Street Y’s Lyrics and Lyricists series and gives the juice on some of Broadway’s classic songs.

 

Love at first write?  Hardly.  Broadway songs rarely get inked in a blink.  Like that charming song “Getting to Know You” from The King and I.  It was grafted onto the 1951 musical during an out-of-town tryout in Boston.  And that’s only half of the juice.  This Rodger and Hammerstein’s classic was actually spun out of the musical rhythms of their two earlier songs--“Suddenly Lovely” and “Suddenly Lucky”—that were both cut from South Pacific.

 

Three-time Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall (who put the choreographic oomph into the revivals of Anything Goes, The Pajama Game and Wonderful Town) hosted “A Funny Thing Happened:  Songs from the Road to Broadway” for the opening season program of the 92^nd Street Y’s Lyrics and Lyricists.  Joined by six sterling vocalists-- Aaron C. Finley, Darius De Haas, Ann Harada, Greg Hildreth, Elena Shaddow, and Betsy Wolfe—and musical director David Chase (who did double-duty as pianist and ensemble conductor), Marshall recounted dozens of stories about classic Broadway songs that were tacked on late in the game, often during out-of-town tryouts.  Marshall, who is the artistic director of the Lyrics and Lyricists series, has an encyclopedic knowledge of Broadway musical lore.  But her main theme, as she spoke from the stage at the Kaufmann Concert Hall, was that a good song often gives the vital definition to a show and decides whether it levitates or flatlines.

 

Darius de Haas, Aaron C. Finley, Greg Hildreth        Photo credit: Richard Termine

 

Admittedly, many of the morsels dished up by Marshall have been indexed before by theater historians.  No matter.  The musical theater buffs who were listening to Marshall’s yarns had evidently come to take a nostalgic trip with Marshall, savor the old stories, and just perhaps learn something new. 

 

Predictably, Marshall, had much to say about the rocky start to Stephen Sondheim’s popular musical A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum before it made its safe landing in Times Square.  According to Marshall, the show was suffering from severe jaundice and bad press during its Washington, D.C. tryouts.   But Sondheim turned the wheel of fate in his direction when he penned the catchy song “Comedy Tonight.”  It was just what the ailing show needed:  a zesty opening number that would get the audience tapping its toes and explain the musical’s raison d’etre.  Marshall chimed in here that a song, not only can tip the scales toward a show’s commercial success, but also give the show its character.

 

And remember the famous Watergate Hotel?  Well, Marshall reminded the audience that political misconduct wasn’t the only thing happening in the rooms in 1972.  Stephen Schwartz’s song “Extraordinary” from Pippin was being created—and soon would be one of the musical’s indelible numbers.

 

The program was chockfull of musical theater lore that would satisfy the savviest culture-monger.  But what added the real carbonation to the proceedings were the six vocalists—and all held their own on stage.  Betsy Wolfe ratcheted up the energy by turning temporary “flapper” and belting out the jazzy “Gimme Gimme” from Thoroughly Modern Millie.  Greg Hildreth and Ann Harada tugged on heartstrings with “Do You Love Me?” from Fiddler on the Roof.  And the entire cast infused political flavor and fun into the program with a tongue-in-cheek rendering of “Little Tin Box” from Fiorello!

 

Marshall is best-known for her top-notch choreography in Broadway shows.  But listening to the scope of her knowledge on Broadway songs at the 92 Street Y immediately makes her the newest go-to person for musical theater lore.  While Marshall might have paused more from her script, and larded her presentation with some spontaneous insights on the given songs, this is really quibbling.  All who came to the program were greatly enriched by her spot-on presentation and likely will listen with new ears—and deepened appreciation--to the old Broadway classics whenever they pop up again.

 

Performances:  Saturday, January 9 at 8pm; Sunday, January 10 at 2 & 7 pm; Monday, January 11 at 2 & 7:30pm.

At the 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Avenue.

For information on upcoming programs, visit www.92Y.org