On the 20th Century

  • Post author:
  • Reading time:4 mins read

On the 20th Century

American Airlines Theater, NYC, March 17, 2015

Reviewed by Elizabeth Ahlfors for Cabaret Scenes

Kristin Chenoweth & Peter Gallagher Photo: Joan Marcus
Kristin Chenoweth & Peter Gallagher
Photo: Joan Marcus

All aboard! It’s full-speed back to the madcap screwball comedies of the 1930s, when trains were the glamorous way to travel and the 20th Century Limited was the ne plus ultra of r Presented at The American Airlines Theatre is a fresh and fizzy revival of the 1978 musical, with book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Cy Coleman. Directed by Scott Ellis, On the 20th Century is an ebullient ride with over-the-top hilarity and an all-stops-out performance for the record books by Kristin Chenoweth.

She plays Lily Garland, née Mildred Plotka, a plain Bronx nobody who happens to have a pitch perfect, five-octave voice and a spicy sexuality. When she is taken in by her Svengali, Oscar Jaffee (Peter Gallagher), she begins the inevitable path to stardom. Oscar, a dashing, puffed-up producer, forms her career and becomes her lover until Lily is lured off to Hollywood. There she scores an Academy Award and a new lover, Bruce Granit, played by Andy Karl.

Meanwhile., Oscar has fallen on hard times. Downtrodden in Chicago, his latest play just closed during intermission and left him a broke has-been. Oscar needs Lily and her fame to revive his bankroll and his career. Hearing that she is headed for New York on the 20th Century Limited, Oscar books the adjoining compartment and plans his seduction. During the 16-hour trip, he must find a new play, the money to produce it, and then convince Lily to remember their lost love, and return with him to the stage and boudoir.

Lily is a perfect role for Chenoweth, a petite pepper-pot who never rests, frolicking with her new beau or battling with Oscar, kicking up her heels in two exuberant ensemble numbers, “Veronique” and “Babette.” Even her extravagant poses are ever so stylish. Vocally, she is flawless, hitting every note right in the middle, to say nothing about a zippy flair for comedy.

The musical is based on a 1932 play by Ben Hecht, Charles MacArthur and Bruce Millholland and adapted two years later into a film starring John Barrymore and Carole Lombard. The era calls out for polished Art Deco and David Rockwell’s well-designed set with a sleek stylish train and imaginative lighting by Donald Holder emphasize the angular geometric deco forms. William Ivey Long’s costumes are brilliantly colored and precisely detailed for the era. The all-white finale is a spectacular.

Peter Gallagher, who has missed several performances due to vocal infections, gives his all to the show. His Oscar is a mustache-twirling con man you kinda have to love, and his melodramatic anthem of survival, “I Rise Again,” hits the spot. Unfortunately, in this performance, Oscar’s tender duet with Lily, “Our Private World,” was a disappointing misharmony.

Oscar’s two yes-men, Mark Linn-Baker as Oliver Webb and Michael McGrath as Owen O’Malley, are always reliable, and Mary Louise Wilson as wealthy Leticia Peabody is a hoot. Leticia is a loony senior on the lam, with religious fervor and millions to spend on an artistic project. No surprise that Oscar’s brilliant idea of a stage spectacle about Mary Magdalene, starring Lily Garland as Mary, will be the lure for Leticia and her checkbook.

Andy Karl, who was a Tony contender for Rocky, uses his flexed biceps and over-the-top theatricality for laughs—and he gets them.

Musically, unfortunately, the songs are fine but not outstanding. “Five Zeros” is catchy as Oscar, Leticia, Owen and Oliver celebrate the check Leticia just wrote. The usually jazzy Cy Coleman songbook switches here for a try at operetta. Warren Carlyle choreographs precision dances for four lively porters—Phillip Attmore, Rick Faugno, Drew King and Richard Riaz Yoder—tap-tap-tapping away in recurrent crowd-pleasing moments. Larry Hochman’s orchestrations and music direction by Kevin Stites add to the ebullience.

A dazzling, flawlessly produced show with a powerhouse leading lady, the frivolous journey On the 20th Century rolls on to July 5.

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.