ON THE TOWN Reviews- Page 2

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 11/21/08 at 10:03am

Talkin' Broadway is Mixed to Negative:

City Center Encores! has become renowned around town for its annual commitment to presenting elaborate concerts of musicals' scores that might otherwise misplace or diminish. But with the new Encores! production of On the Town, running through Sunday, there's reason to suspect that the venerable series may heretofore have missed - or at least undervalued - an even higher calling: dance.

The score, with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green (also the librettists, and two of the original stars), has never been in danger of evaporating. The anxiously optimistic opener "New York, New York," the appetite-sating (and -inspiring) comic showpiece "I Can Cook Too," and the touching acknowledgement of love and friendship's fleeting effervescence "Some Other Time" are too firm a part of musical theatre history, and our own World War II consciousness (On the Town opened in December 1944), to ever just vanish.

Other elements have, though. George Abbott's reportedly breakneck staging must have been marvelous in holding together a show so chaotic and wonderfully messy, because John Rando's Encores! staging is sluggish and pensive, never suggesting a beat-the-clock game with life. Jerome Robbins's landscape-altering choreography didn't survive the first production, but in some form Robbins remains: He devised anew three of the show's key routines for his 1989 revue retrospective Jerome Robbins' Broadway; those have been transplanted here, and augmented with new ones, by Warren Carlyle. What a revelation the men impart...

http://www.talkinbroadway.com/ob/11_20_08.html

Updated On: 11/21/08 at 10:03 AM

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 11/21/08 at 10:06am

The NY Daily News is Mixed to Negative:

How do you do "On the Town," a show that's all about celebrating New York, and virtually erase the city from the proceedings?

An object lesson can be found in the tall-on-concept, short-on-pizzazz Encores! version of the 1944 show by Leonard Bernstein (music) and Betty Comden and Adolph Green (book and lyrics), playing through Sunday at City Center.

The brief revival is part of a citywide festival presented by the New York Philharmonic and Carnegie Hall honoring the legendary Bernstein.

The much-done musical and film follows three sailors on 24-hour shore leave. Tony Yazbeck, Christian Borle and Justin Bohon are the gobs who respectively find near-romance with a subway poster girl (Jessica Lee Goldyn), a museum staffer (Jennifer Laura Thompson) and a taxi driver (Leslie Kritzer)...

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/arts/2008/11/21/2008-11-21_on_the_town_broadway_revival_short_on_pi.html

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 11/21/08 at 10:08am

BackStage is Very Positive:

The "in concert" after the title is almost unnecessary for the Encores! presentation of On the Town, the 1944 watershed musical that marked the Broadway debuts of such theatrical giants as Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden, Adolph Green, and Jerome Robbins. Director John Rando has given this tale of three sailors on a 24-hour leave in World War II Gotham a fully realized production full of life, excitement, elaborate comic bits, and three-dimensional characters.

The only drawback is the onstage setup of the orchestra at City Center. Most of the book scenes take place in front of the conductor and musicians on a narrow ribbon of stage, while the dance numbers are largely performed on a raised platform behind them. This severely hampers the proceedings, especially in a dance-heavy show like this one. Choreographer Warren Carlyle has only two dimensions with which to work; he's restricted to moving his dancers in lines between the wings. They can't travel on the diagonal or use the full depth of the space. This is a pity, because Carlyle shows great flair and imagination in his Robbins-inspired pieces and in his re-creation of three numbers Robbins re-choreographed for 1989's Jerome Robbins' Broadway (after admitting he couldn't remember his choreography for the original Broadway production).

That caveat aside, this Town rocks. As Gaby, the lonely serviceman searching for the elusive Miss Turnstiles, Tony Yazbeck is that rare commodity, a true triple threat — he can act, sing, and dance with equal skill and passion. His soulful delivery of "Lonely Town" and accompanying movement is heartbreakingly real. Christian Borle and Justin Bohon bring zest and spark to his fellow gobs Ozzie and Chip....

http://www.backstage.com/bso/news_reviews/nyc/review_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003895384

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 11/21/08 at 10:14am

REVIEW ROUND UP:

Rave
TheaterMania

Very Positive
Variety
The Associated Press
AM New York
The New York Post
BackStage

Positive
The New York Times

Mixed to Negative
The NY Daily News
Talkin' Broadway

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 11/21/08 at 12:31pm

I do wish it would transfer just so that I could have the opportunity to see it.