HIGH BUTTON SHOES

I HATE when you post about Melody Fair! My heart always breaks that there is nothing like this! I want to see Chita Rivera in "Flower Drum Song", or George Chakiris & Rita Moreno in "Guys and Dolls".

Thanks!

Thanks for the comments! Melody Top included "The Things We Did Last Summer," by Styne and Cahn, in their HIGH BUTTON SHOES for the characters of Papa and Mama Longstreet. And as for dance, there is more in the musical than the Bathing Beauty/Keystone Kops ballet. A comic tango, the "Lulu Fadoo," takes place in the first act for Uncle Willie and Nancy (the maid). And at the end of the second act is a rousing number called the "Castle Walk." I couldn't think of a better show for Encores! to revive.

Updated On: 7/12/20 at 04:34 PM

I saw this production and do remember a production number for "Papa." HIGH BUTTON SHOES is one of those entertaining, well crafted shows that isn't produced much any more. Melody Top did it one other time, with Gabe Dell and Margaret Whiting. It's a fun show, and I agree that it would be a good choice for Encores.

markypoo said: "At the curtain call following the performance I saw, Monty Hall gestured toward Anne Jeffreys and adlibbed: "How'd you like to find HER behind Door Number Three?"
To which she replied: "I'll make a deal with this man anytime.""

Ah, yes! The "third act" act Melody Top was always memorable. I loved it when the stars stayed on stage and talked to the audience. I've heard that Van Johnson always ended his little speeches by saying that his jams and jells were for sale in the lobby. And Jo Anne Worley used to throw little packages of Kleenex into the audience because she was in television commercials for the tissue.

I am so annoyed (mostly joking) that this is on this week/weekend, I'm moving next week and just can't afford the time commitment to see this when I have so much packing left to do.

I was in HBS in middle school and haven't heard anything about it since. We actually had Joan Roberts (one of the replacement cast for the original production in the 40s) come in and teach us some of the original choreography (my school music/theatre teacher was close friends with her). She also come in when we did Oklahoma in high school.

I can't wait for the reports to start coming in from people seeing it, I will live vicariously through you.

I am not familiar with the show but from the clips i have seen online it looks like a really fun show.

NY City Center put out a bunch of videos on Youtube about the production:

1) The creative team talking about the show and that they will recreate the original choreography for Sunday by the Sea and Jealous : https://youtu.be/f6H499piQ3o

2) The principals: https://youtu.be/SRG6ZOk1Ln4

3) Sunday by the Sea: https://youtu.be/-bul8xKV22s

Here's BWW video of the cast and the rehearsal: https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/BWW-TV-Michael-Urie-Kevin-Chamberlin-More-Preview-Encores-HIGH-BUTTON-SHOES-20190504

Looks like the cast is having fun! I hope those that will see the show post about here! I wanna hear about it.

Caught the dress rehearsal tonight. I did this show in middle school and love some of the music so I was looking forward to this.. Nothing like a Model T... Papa Won't you Dance with me.. I still get jealous.. etc.

Never saw the show from the audience and all I can say is they don't make shows like they used to and in this case... thank god. It is a kitchen sink kind of show ...very clunky.

There is this swindler named Harrison Floy who sells watches and then sells snake oil and we go to Philadelphia and Washington and then New Brunswick New Jersey and ingratiates himself to a family and then we go to Atlantic City and then we sell swamp land and then there is a football game. It's bad musical comedy derived from vaudeville-- absolutely no substance as we have grown used to. I am all for entertaining musicals for entertainment sake (Crazy for You, No No Nanette, to name a few) but this one was annoyingly jolting in its plotting and not very funny or entertaining.

The reason to sit through the production is the choreography. by Sarah O' Gleby. She recreates some of Jerome Robbin's work and mixes it in with her own--most notably the second act Bathing Beauty Ballet, a Robbins recreation which alone is worth the price of admission. The choreographer almost saved the evening as well as the always delightful Encore full orchestra.

Everyone sang beautifully but everyone seemed very bland in their characterizations. This show needs characters!!!! Michel Urie was doing his best Phil Silvers imitation compete with black framed glassed-- an impersonation which just didn't land and wasn't grounded or believable. He seemed uncomfortable. Betsy Wolfe was pleasant but dull and characterless. Even Kevin Chamberlain who was so hysterical as Fester didn't quite have a grounded character. The only one with a semblance of character of was Mark Koeck as Oggle.

I can't help but wonder that if it has a real comedian with his own personality and lots of crazy characters supporting him, perhaps the show would have played better. Perhaps a Howie Mandel or Martin Short or a Jason Alexander as Harrison Floy. A Nancy Opel as Mrs. Longstreet. They would have brought personality to this personality-less piece. Someone needs to give the shoes some personality.

Updated On: 5/7/19 at 11:18 PM

I had high hopes for the evening given that the other two shows of the Encore season had not been very good. But this was another miss. The first act was exhausting and the 2nd was salvaged somewhat by the choreography.

To be fair there is a reason that High Button Shoes is not done very often. The script is very thin and the music is less than thrilling.; Unfortunately the musical hinges on the lead performance of Floy played by Mr.Urie. His performance was all on one level and lacked playful spontaneity. He was not in the moment which was the biggest surprise. He spoke rapidly and at times loudly for no particular reason. He really needed to go back into the text and figure out what his character wanted and how he was going to get it using various colors thus creating more humor and providing more depth of character. A previous poster said that he was not grounded and I could not have said it better. The other problem was that he did not sing very well and was a little clunky on his feet. The part would have been better served by the likes of Nathan Lane or Christian Borle.

goldenboy said: "About 2 hrs and 4o"



No it is shorter than that although it felt longer. The running time was about 2 hours and 15 minutes with intermission. The dress ran a little longer because there was a curtain speech,