The Band Wagon

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The Band Wagon

City Center, NYC, November 9, 2014

Reviewed by Elizabeth Ahlfors for Cabaret Scenes

(L-R) Brian Stokes Mitchell, Laura Osnes, Tony Sheldon Photo: Joan Marcus
(L-R) Brian Stokes Mitchell, Laura Osnes, Tony Sheldon
Photo: Joan Marcus

With director/choreographer Kathleen Marshall, award winners Brian Stokes Mitchell, Laura Osnes, Tracey Ullman, Michael McKean, Michael Berresse, Don Stephenson, a Comden and Green book, songs by Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz and the rich sound of the Encores! 12-piece orchestration led by Todd Ellison—Kids, that’s entertainment!

With Douglas Carter Beane’s adaptation, Encores!’ The Band Wagon is a different production from the classic 1953 MGM movie musical that itself referred to a previous 1931 revue by George S. Kaufman and Dietz. The original memorable score remained for the film and the stage, and the film plot is basically the same—except when it’s not. Tony Hunter, fading Hollywood star, goes for one last chance in the theater. Add a pretentious British director, Jeffrey Cordova, who can’t direct a musical, Gabrielle Gerard, a young leading lady with no musical theater experience, and a singing/comical songwriting team.

Starring Fred Astaire as Tony and Cyd Charisse as Gaby, the film was basically a dancing show. For Encores!, singing is the thing with Mitchell as Tony and Osnes playing Gaby (now a modern dancer), the shy girlfriend of pompous choreographer Paul Byrd (Berresse).

In the film, Nanette Fabray and the acerbic Oscar Levant played a cozy songwriting duo, Lily and Lester, based on Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Reimagined on stage, Lily (Tracy Ullman) and Lester (Michael McKean) are married and have a prickly backstory.

Tony Sheldon (Priscilla Queen of the Desert) as director/performer Jeffrey Cordova, flashes and flaunts with broad flair and comes close to stealing the show. Sheldon’s likeably sly flamboyance flourishes Cordova’s visions of Faust to lend his musical an artistic, rather than mere mass appeal, aspect. That all goes up in smoke. Now what?

The film ends as a revue. Apparently, Comden and Green’s contract for the film was up before it was finished. Since MGM did not want to pay for the extra month to do the job, the writers split. Film director Vincente Minnelli patched the post-Faust fiasco, adding a revue, linking one song/dance to the next.

In Beane’s version, the story continues, musical-comedy style. The kids agree to pitch in, ditch Faust or any other lofty pretense, and just entertain. Financing? The money will come from somewhere. Beane adds intriguing backstories, like Lily’s romantic history with Tony. This adds tension to her marriage to Lester, an alcoholic. Happily, however, everyone ends up with the right partner, including Cordova with his assistant/boyfriend, Hal Meadows, all admitting they are really from the Bronx.

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Now for the bounty of unforgettable songs. The romantic, meditative “Dancing in the Dark” does not aim to reach the pinnacle of grace by Astaire and Charisse in Central Park. Nothing can beat that. Mitchell, however, never fails with his resonant voice. He wraps a darkness around “By Myself,” fitting for the story. Mitchell and Sheldon’s smooth “I Guess I’ll Have to Change My Plan” is suave.

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The memorable “Triplets” works with its clever twist, and “A Shine on Your Shoes” here becomes the grand finale tap number. Mitchell’s vocals are creamy, his dancing okay and Osnes shines in her songs and is a limber dancer. Her “Something You’ve Never Had Before” Not used in the film) is notable, as Gaby sheds her shyness and her egotistical boyfriend and warms to Tony. Yet, despite the plot, the Mitchell-Osnes chemistry never quite ignites.

As Lily and Lester, Ullman and McKean are delightful. Ullman is a natural on a musical stage and sparks with her snappy Beane comebacks.

Beane’s book sparkles with wit, moves briskly and filling out the backstories gives the show heft. Marshall’s choreography keeps the dancing ebullient and the flow crisp. William Ivey Long has the ’50s clothing just right. This is not a fully stage production, but the cast is sizable and the orchestra under Ellison’s baton and, with Eric Stern’s orchestrations, has a surprisingly full sound.

Film versus stage musical? With The Band Wagon, it’s apples or oranges, singing or dancing— your choice. It’s still entertainment.

The Band Wagon plays through November 16.

Elizabeth Ahlfors

Born and raised in New York, Elizabeth graduated from NYU with a degree in Journalism. She has lived in various cities and countries and now is back in NYC. She has written magazine articles and published three books: A Housewife’s Guide to Women’s Liberation, Twelve American Women, and Heroines of ’76 (for children). A great love was always music and theater—in the audience, not performing. A Philadelphia correspondent for Theatre.com and InTheatre Magazine, she has reviewed theater and cabaret for the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia City News. She writes for Cabaret Scenes and other cabaret/theater sites. She is a judge for Nightlife Awards and a voting member of Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle.