42nd Street - Walnut Street Theatre

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 12/10/06 at 12:22pm

I did a theatre double-header yesterday by attending the matinee of "42nd Street" at the Walnut Street Theatre and "Annie Get Your Gun" for the evening performance.

I love "42nd Street" just for its tap dancing alone. I have a soft spot in my heart for this show, as it was the show I made my professional debut in many years ago. I saw the original 1980 production and the revival a few years ago, and I will say, I preferred the revival. WST stuck with the 1980 version (which I didn't know until I got there), so already I was a little disappointed. Mary Jane Houdina's choreography was wonderful, but the production on a whole was somewhat lackluster (if you can believe that 42nd Street could ever be lackluster).

Cara Cooper was wonderful as Peggy Sawyer, but for some reason her wig was a huge distraction for me. It was quite unflattering both in color and style.

Mark Jacoby made a very good Julian Marsh.

David Elder as Billy Lawlor: what's not to like!! His vocals and dancing were excellent.

Susan Cella: ooh, what can I say. I saw her in the National Tour of Hairspray as Velma Von Tussle and in that show she was perfect. IMO, her take on Dorothy Brock was like, "Velma Von Tussle does Dorothy Brock". Something was missing.

Diane Findlay was quite entertaining as Maggie Jones.

I felt the staircase they used in the finale was wasted, whereas the choreography in the revival utilized the staircase during the title number to great effect.

During the female ensemble's "Dame" dance sequence...ugh, I couldn't wait for that section to be done with. The giggling and throwing the ball around was really bad. I realize that's part of the number, but without a turntable and mirrors, it just seemed like something else should have been done during that sequence.

I wanted to love this production, but for some reason, I did not. I really missed, "Keep Young and Beautiful", "Plenty of Money and You" and some extended tap sequences for the finale.

This was my first visit to WST, and I definitely plan on returning for their production of "Carousel".

[Lavieboheme3090]

Posted: 12/10/06 at 12:33pm

I would really recomend their up stairs production "The Mystery of Irma Vep." I loved it much than 42nd Street.

[liotte]

Posted: 12/10/06 at 12:36pm

I loved 42nd Street there, I saw it twice during it's first weekend. I went to see Cara and she was fantastic, loved her tap dancing and singing and overall thought the show was pretty good.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 12/10/06 at 12:38pm

Liotte, yes, Cara's tap dancing was amazing. That's why I missed, "Plenty of Money and You". I wanted to add to your original post instead of starting a new thread, but I couldn't find it.

[sidneybruhl]

Posted: 12/10/06 at 4:01pm

So how was "Annie Get Your Gun"?

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 12/10/06 at 5:05pm

My Annie Get Your Gun review:

https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?thread=919481&dt=1

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 12/10/06 at 5:07pm

Why'd they cut the songs?

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 12/10/06 at 5:10pm

Yankeefan, they didn't necessarily cut the songs as those particular ones weren't used in the 1980 version of the show (in which this production was based).

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 12/10/06 at 5:12pm

Ah. Noted and thanks for the answer.

[singingshowgirl]

Posted: 12/10/06 at 5:36pm

i enjoyed 42nd street, but i also felt there were points it lacked a lot of good dazzling energy.....i was most disappointed with dorothy brock....but i loved mark jacoby as julian marsh!

[gumbo2]

Posted: 12/10/06 at 5:48pm

Aah, I love David Elder on the revival recording, and Mark Jacoby in general. It's too bad the show isn't as stellar as it could be.

[TheQuibbler]

Posted: 12/10/06 at 5:53pm

David Elder is getting too old to play Billy. And I was really distracted at how OLD Susan Cella was, too. I know Dorothy Brock is supposed to be past her prime, but Cella looked and sang like she was 80 years old.

[singingshowgirl]

Posted: 12/10/06 at 7:41pm

yeah, david elder is a little too old to play billy....i saw him play it on Broadway and felt the part was a lot bigger then...maybe because they cut out a few of the songs

[mikem]

Posted: 12/10/06 at 8:43pm

I really enjoyed this production -- I thought it was one of the better Walnut Street productions I've seen recently. (I had not seen the show previously, so I have no idea how it compares to other productions.) Both Mark Jacoby and David Elder were excellent.

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 12/10/06 at 8:47pm

I respectfully but "really" disagree with you about David Elder. IMO, he was the "WOW" of this production.( He and Mark Jacoby) Such energy! I am betting that this and Carousel ( if it's as top notch) will be the Walnut's best box office hits of the season.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=13806

Please keep in mind the Walnut stage is not huge (you should have seen them mount Beauty & the Beast. The transforming castle looked like giant brown legos). So these big, big musical look a bit scaled down.

I am working on lining up an interview with Mark Jacoby & John Cudia (current philly phantom) for a "2 phantoms for Philly" article. Just need to pin them down this week.

Still, please come on down to Philly. The audiecens are having a ball this holiday season between the Nutcracker/42nd St/ Philly Pops Holiday Show/AGYG. all in town through 12/31!

(waiting for my go-phila.com check)

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 3:44am

Liotte...first you are in Boston seeing Spelling Bee/ASU twenty million times, then you are in NYC seeing all these other shows, now Philly! Where do you get the $$$???

[liotte]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 6:35am

LOL Millie! You'd be surprised how cheap it is to go to Philly and Boston from NYC! And I live in NYC, so I'm there almost all the time.