Cheek to Cheek: Irving Berlin in Hollywood
York Theatre Company
Theatre at St. Jeans, NYC, September 24, 222
Reviewed by Bart Greenberg
Darien Crago, Jeremy Benton, Kaitlyn Davidson
Photo: Carol Rosegg
When Hollywood first began to speak—and sing—Irving Berlin was there. When Al Jolson swung into “Blue Skies” in the landmark film The Jazz Singer, the songwriter had already been writing for 20 years and had had numerous hits on Broadway. But the new media was going to boost him much higher. He was the first songwriter to have contracts with the studios that granted him publishing rights, control over how his songs were used in movies, and a guarantee that his name would be above the title. As a result the official titles of such major productions were Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn, Irving Berlin’s Easter Parade,—well, you get the idea. So, what would be more logical than to construct a revue around the songs he specifically created for the screen? And who better than the modern champion of Berlin than Randy Skinner to conceive of, direct, and choreograph the program?
Cheek to Cheek: Irving Berlin in Hollywood is a sleek celebration of the work of the first superstar of American music. In a fast-moving 85 minutes, the audience was transported through a well-chosen selection of numbers, both famous and lesser known, in mostly chronological order from 1927 to 1965. The incredibly talented cast of six artfully avoid two of the pitfalls of such tributes; the young performers manage to catch the style of the 1930s and ’40s without seeming to be commenting on it, and they didn’t seem to be haunted by the legendary talents (Astaire and Rogers, Judy Garland, Rosemary Clooney, Sonja Henie, etc.) who first introduced the songs. All triple threats, they danced, sang, and acted, as they whirled offstage to change costumes (hail to Nicole Wee for capturing the period without being overly detailed, using simple, versatile outfits) to reemerge in time to begin the next moment.
Each member of the company had a chance to shine. Melinda Porto showed off her fine voice in several torch songs/ballads, including “Reaching for the Moon” and “Better Luck Next Time,” and Kaitlyn Davidson showed the power of stillness in a dance show with her devastating “Love, You Didn’t Do Right by Me.” Darien Cargo was a pert soubrette delivering “Isn’t It a Lovely Day.” Darrell T. Joe lent his fine baritone to several numbers, both cheerful (“I’m Putting All My Eggs in One Basket”) and pensive (“Change Partners”). Danny Gardner impersonated Berlin himself, helping to center the show, and he partnered with every other member of the cast with scintillating results. Last but decidedly not least, Jeremy Benton charmed with his one solo, “I’ve Got Plenty to Be Thankful For”; and perhaps more importantly, he served as the associate choreographer for the evening.
Under Skinner’s clever guidance, one of the joys of the show was the way the cast members were constantly reorganizing themselves into varying couples and trios so that everyone worked with everyone else. This helped to avoid the predictability that such tributes can drift into. The vocal arrangements and orchestrations by Fred Lassen, as well as the dance arrangements by Rob Berman and the music direction and additional orchestrations by David Hancock Tuner, all worked together as a seamless whole to create the variety of the evening. Barry Kleinbort wrote the book.
Outstanding was the close harmony work by Joe, Benton, Davidson, and Crago on a real rarity, “I Poured My Heart Into a Song,” as was a dazzling display of tap dancing by the three men (and drummer Louis B. Crocco) for “Drum Crazy.” Gardner and Benton also got to strut themselves with the jaunty “My Walking Stick,” and the whole company had great fun with such silliness in dance tunes as “Back to Back” and “The Yam.” Actually, every number was a joy in this most joyous of celebrations.
