#1
Posted: 5/8/13 at 10:58pm
It's got to be love! It couldn't be tonsillitis!
Well On Your Toes is as silly and wonderful as Hart's lyric, and a great way for Encores to end its season. The score might not be as crammed full of hits as Babes in Arms or The Boys From Syracuse, but it is lovely, lively and tuneful.
The title song is so catchy and fun, and after the choruses were sung the number turned into a Dance at the Gym between the Hoofers and Corps de Ballet. The number really brought the house down, and we still had the Slaughter on Tenth Ave to get through!!!
Warren Carlyle gave us some sweet moments to savor too. Baranski and Shonn Wiley had fun with The Heart is Quicker That the Eye, and it was nice to be reminded that a number doesn't need to have somersaults and grand jetes to be exciting. I thought of Rob Ashford's choreographic additions to Grand Ole Ivy and She Likes Basketball, fearing the audience could handle a break from the big dance numbers. Carlyle wisely lets the number play as written and it worked.
As for Baranski (everybody wants to do a musical, especially her), she was fun and got to throw off some fun zingers. When Wiley earnestly asked her if a man could love two women at the same time she looked at the audience and quipped, "Only if he's very good."
Walter Bobbie was also wonderful, and it's a shame that he doesn't act very much anymore. His Quiet Night reprise was touching, as was his speech about being happier when he was younger with nothing but ambition and a fistful of dreams.
Truly though, the star is the BRILLIANT Irina Dvorovenko. I only knew the show through cast recordings so I just couldn't understand why this role won a Best Actress award. Now I know.
I don't know why, but I've always imagined ballet dancers to be completely humorless, but both Irina and Joaquin de Luz had impeccable comic timing and were completely off book. Irina cracked me up at every turn and then holy crap did she put on a show for the Slaughter. Wiley had momentary lapses trying to keep up with her, but acquitted himself nicely enough.
Kelli Barrett sounded better than I've ever heard her sing.
Definitely a very fun night.
Well On Your Toes is as silly and wonderful as Hart's lyric, and a great way for Encores to end its season. The score might not be as crammed full of hits as Babes in Arms or The Boys From Syracuse, but it is lovely, lively and tuneful.
The title song is so catchy and fun, and after the choruses were sung the number turned into a Dance at the Gym between the Hoofers and Corps de Ballet. The number really brought the house down, and we still had the Slaughter on Tenth Ave to get through!!!
Warren Carlyle gave us some sweet moments to savor too. Baranski and Shonn Wiley had fun with The Heart is Quicker That the Eye, and it was nice to be reminded that a number doesn't need to have somersaults and grand jetes to be exciting. I thought of Rob Ashford's choreographic additions to Grand Ole Ivy and She Likes Basketball, fearing the audience could handle a break from the big dance numbers. Carlyle wisely lets the number play as written and it worked.
As for Baranski (everybody wants to do a musical, especially her), she was fun and got to throw off some fun zingers. When Wiley earnestly asked her if a man could love two women at the same time she looked at the audience and quipped, "Only if he's very good."
Walter Bobbie was also wonderful, and it's a shame that he doesn't act very much anymore. His Quiet Night reprise was touching, as was his speech about being happier when he was younger with nothing but ambition and a fistful of dreams.
Truly though, the star is the BRILLIANT Irina Dvorovenko. I only knew the show through cast recordings so I just couldn't understand why this role won a Best Actress award. Now I know.
I don't know why, but I've always imagined ballet dancers to be completely humorless, but both Irina and Joaquin de Luz had impeccable comic timing and were completely off book. Irina cracked me up at every turn and then holy crap did she put on a show for the Slaughter. Wiley had momentary lapses trying to keep up with her, but acquitted himself nicely enough.
Kelli Barrett sounded better than I've ever heard her sing.
Definitely a very fun night.
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
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