On Your Toes @ Encores!

[WhizzerMarvin]

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.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 11:06pm

I'm disappointed to be missing this one, but I'm glad to hear you loved it!

[egghumor]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 11:08pm

Sounds like you danced all the way home, Whizzer. Thanks for the nimble review. Wish I could see it!

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 11:17pm

I did dance all the way. I performed the much lesser known Slaughter on 9th Avenue!

[notabb]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 11:18pm

I agree with everything Whizzer said. What a wonderful evening of fun.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 5/9/13 at 1:02am

I really enjoyed it tonight too, but with two exceptions: Shonn Wiley and Kelli Barrett. Kelli was fine vocally, but I felt as though she didn't find the humor in the character, especially in Act 1. I couldn't help but think what someone like Marla Mindelle would have done with the part.

As for Shonn Wiley, I thought he was horrendously miscast. The kid playing young Junior was so charismatic, but Shonn didn't continue that throughout. I thought his charisma was severely lacking. And honestly, his dancing was subpar. He wasn't dancing with clean lines at all, and when he was doing the final dance with Irina (who was BRILLIANT), his timing was completely off. I was not impressed.

Everything else was lovely though.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 5/9/13 at 9:01am

I am so sorry I didn't get a ticket to this in time. After seeing Richard Ridge's interview with Irina and Joaquin I knew they'd be wonderful. They were just so charming when they spoke with him. I saw the '83 revival which I enjoyed quite a bit.

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/9/13 at 9:09am

The 1983 revival remains one of my favorite Broadway shows. I'm so glad this production is living up to expectations.

Whizzer, I remember the title number staging with the hoofers vs. the corps de ballet stopped the show when I saw it. Completely brilliant.

I'm aslo glad you can see what a great role Vera is for a comedic ballet dancer (not easy to find someone who can do both!) Natalia Makarova definitely deserved her Tony for Best Actress.

[evic]

Posted: 5/9/13 at 9:12am

Great night of theater. The fact that they only had 2 weeks to put this on is amazing considering all of the dancing. The title number is one of the top 3 production numbers I have ever seen-show stopper time! The cast is fine. It is silly and old old fashioned but the orchestra and music are top notch. And I loved the color scheme of the costumes and great set pieces. Go if there are any tickets left.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 5/9/13 at 9:46am

I might try to go back on Friday night just to see Irina and the title number again.

Dottie and Best12, Did you two get to see Makarova in other roles at ABT? I've read that her Giselle was supposed to be one of the best.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 5/9/13 at 9:53am

Whizzer, Makarova had already retired from ABT by the time I was attending ballet on a regular basis.

I also saw the replacement cast of "On Your Toes".

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/9/13 at 10:00am

Okay. Now I'm going.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 5/9/13 at 10:06am

Dottie, Who took over for Christine Andreas and Makarova?

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 5/9/13 at 10:13am

Christine Andreas was still there when I saw the show in March 1984. Galina Panova played the Makarova role and Kitty Carlisle Hart replaced Dina Merrill.

On a side note, ensemble member in the Broadway revival, Wade Laboissonniere, is now a costume designer. He designed the costumes for the production of Hello, Dolly! I saw earlier this week in DC.

Updated On: 5/9/13 at 10:13 AM

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 5/9/13 at 10:23am

You got to see Kitty Carlisle Hart in the role?! OMG! How was she?

I'm not familiar with Panova. I'll have to see if there are any clips of hers on youtube.

[mamaleh]

Posted: 5/9/13 at 10:24am

So glad I went last night. There's something to be said for the comparatively mindless musicals of the '20s and '30s. This one was sheer, exuberant fun with brilliant choreography in the title number. The "Slaughter" number could have used a bit more dash, but the gorgeous music more than compensated. Flaws and all, this Encores! ranks among my favorites.

Updated On: 5/13/13 at 10:24 AM

[forgetmenotnyc]

Posted: 5/9/13 at 12:11pm

How more American than to have the title song be about competing Hoofers & Ballet dancers...low brow & high brow. The amazing OYT's number is also teased into our experience with two major sections of the overture, a French horn practice of the melody line, & a presentation of a description of the orchestral build into the vocal. The choreographer pulled out all punches in the stellar use of dancing on bench platforms that keep getting moved about like runways in a lion tamers act. Fresh, inventive, inspired - THEN the poor cast have to follow up with a stodgy boring old 'from the dust' recreation of Balanchine's 'original.' Fresh right next to stale. Not a good way to end a show - but who is gonna rob the inventive to bring it down to the level of the old? No one. So why not RE-INTERPRET the friggin' 'Slaughter on early 20th century'choreography? LOVE Rodgers & Harts score & everyone in this - just know that you would be better leaving after the 11 o'clock ON YOUR TOES number or else just closing your eyes & listening to the orchestral splendor.

Updated On: 5/9/13 at 12:11 PM

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/9/13 at 12:58pm

Whizzer, I saw the full original revival cast (1983) late in previews. Everyone was terrific. I still remember how funny both Makarova and Lara Teeter were (and both were incredible dancers). Andreas and Dina Merrill were both gorgeous and so memorable in their roles. Andreas really looked like a 1930s movie star (a young Kathryn Grayson), and Merrill WAS a movie star. Her dry and wise take on "The Heart Is Quicker Than the Eye" was a highlight.

But the dancing is by far what I remember most. The title number, the opening vaudeville number (2 a Day for Keith) with some excellent hoofing by the "little" Junior and his parents, and the two ballets (Princes Zenobia, which ended up being as funny as the bride number in Funny Girl) and of course Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, which impressed me as much for Rodgers' music (he wrote his own dance music) as it did for the choreography and talent on stage.

I also remember that the beautiful choral harmonies on "Quiet Night" made me melt.

I'm just excited that someone decided to revive it in NY, and that the production seems to be measuring up to expectations. Very exciting.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 5/9/13 at 1:07pm

Wait, so they used Balanchine's Slaughter (I assume in the later 1950s version he did for NYCBallet, that was used in the 80s revival) but Carlyle re-choreographed the Princess Zenobia and other numbers? I admit, I was so let down by his bland choreography for the concert version of Carousel--it's nice to hear that apparently he did a good job here. (I will try not to comment aout anyone referring to Balanchine's choreography as crap :P )

Re Makarova, I wish her performance in On Your Toes had been filmed. As a huge fan, not enough of her full performances were captured--her 1970s performance with ABT in Giselle is lovely though the ABT corps was a pretty haggered bunch back then (before she and Baryushnikov worked so hard to fix that element), but my favorite is her Odile/Odette in a Royal Ballet Swan Lake from around 1980 (back when they still did the full ballet without all the edits that are largely done now.)

BlueGobo has the revival cast (including Makarova) doing much of Slaughter as well as most of the title song for anyone interested, here: http://www.bluegobo.com/production/2883697/video/10405

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/9/13 at 1:21pm

I wish those videos were better. They don't even begin to capture what I saw in the theatre.

I suppose it's better than nothing ... but barely.

EDIT: I think the big problem is that this video of the title song doesn't let your eye wander from group to group, seeing the details, but also seeing the full stage all at once. The number creeps up on you, and it really takes off when the two "sides" start blending together: ballet girl with tap boy, tap girl with ballet boy. Then they start mixing styles and steps as well as partners. I remember my jaw dropping when I first saw it. It was such a celebration.

First, the two sides are in competition, then they study each other, then they celebrate their differences and combine them into something much stronger than the individual "sides." It was pretty thrilling in the theatre. The narrative story (during the dance) was so clear.

Updated On: 5/9/13 at 01:21 PM

[carousel94]

Posted: 5/9/13 at 1:33pm

Last night was a ton of fun! I was actually really pleased with the new choreography by Carlyle, it was fresh, inventive and an all around good time. Like others have said, the show belonged to Irina, but Baranski and Bobbie were perfect in their roles and the rest of the cast was just great, seemed to be having a really good time. The title number alone was worth the ticket price. On Your Toes has such a great score, probably my favorite by Rodgers & Hart, it was a pleasure to hear it live! Very solid Encores! production.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 5/9/13 at 1:34pm

Yeah, between the visual quality and the weird filming style, they're not the best, but it's nice to get some sort of view of them.

I saw the NYCB perform Slaughter along with their West Side Story Suite (and I think Christopher Wheeldon's choreography for Carousel) ten or so years ago, and it was pretty thrilling. I can just imagine how good the revival was. (Blue Gobo also has an Olivier Awards performance of two of the London leads performing Small Hotel--I didn't realize the revival ran in London with Makarova as well--and actually ran a bit longer than in New York http://www.bluegobo.com/production/2892908/video/10536 )

While Makarova's English is rather poor, I imagine she would have been very funny in the book scenes--I first saw her act in her month long gig as Natasha Romanov on One Life to Live in the early 90s where she was a lot of fun.

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 5/9/13 at 2:26pm

When I was living in Chicago in the 1970's, the ABT came every year. In 1975, when the "hot" news in ballet was Baryshnikov (he'd just defected), they did Giselle on Thursday with Makarova and another dancer; on Friday, the scheduled Baryshnikov and another dancer for Giselle. Before the Friday night performance, the lights were lowered and an announcement came over the loudspeaker. Everyone groaned, fearing that Baryshnikov had cancelled, but it was anounced that the sceduled Giselle had cancelled and was being replaced by . . . Natalia Makarova. Two of the best evenings I ever experienced at the ballet!

[forgetmenotnyc]

Posted: 5/10/13 at 8:16am

Yes EricMontreal. The dir./choreographer was responsible for everything EXCEPT the shows final number. How crazy is that? "The "Slaughter on 10th Ave" ballet, originally choreographed by George Balanchine, will be staged by Susan Pilarre, ballet mistress of the show's 1983 Broadway revival." AND they even got special funding to pay for that bad decision: "Generous support for Balanchine Choreography Restaging by FREDERIC & ROBIN SEEGAL."

[bjh2114]

Posted: 5/10/13 at 8:44am

Brantley liked it, but feels the same way about Shonn Wiley that I did:

"As the music professor and former vaudeville dancer who falls into the brave new world of toe shoes and tutus, Mr. Wiley sings pleasantly (including the enduring classic “There’s a Small Hotel,” performed with the shiny-voiced Kelli Barrett) and is a terrific tapper. As a jazzed-up ballet dancer, he doesn’t have the requisite sharpness. And he’s not the natural physical comedian (like Ray Bolger, who created the part) needed for the ripe parody of the ballet “Scheherazade” that concludes the first act."

http://theater.nytimes.com/2013/05/10/theater/reviews/on-your-toes-with-christine-baranski-at-city-center.html?ref=theater&_r=0