George Gershwin. Harold Arlen. Johnny Mercer. Tin Pan Alley gods whose repertoires are Olympian enough to provide the foundation for an entire evening's musical revue.
And now ... Barry Manilow?
Surprisingly, the Atlantis Playhouse's martini-smooth songfest I Write the Songs proves that while the Baby Boomers' Irving Berlin may not be anywhere near his predecessors' league, the Manilow oeuvre is capable of supporting a thoroughly entertaining if not enrapturing evening.
Atlantis' producer-director Gary Waldman has poured 25 Manilow ballads into the mouths of a quintet of earnest, attractive and soulful singers.
The original production not only lacks a book, it lacks a discernible throughline, other than lovesick twentysomethings at a Manhattan penthouse cocktail party taking turns singing about regret and longing.
Up to a point, this show is precisely what you expect, presented with a good deal of talent. A lot of Boomers secretly dust off a Manilow album occasionally because he gloriously and unapologetically wraps himself in sentiment like a warm winter coat.
But what makes this far more satisfying than a cloned greatest-hits album, a la Billy Joel's Movin' Out, is the contribution of Waldman and music director Phil Hinton. Their re-arrangements deconstruct the songs, studiously and ingeniously avoiding the Top 40 sound. |
| Leah Springer in I WRITE THE SONGS - A Celebration of the Music of Barry Manilow Click image for video |
For the treacly Can't Smile Without You, Waldman orders his singer to deliver the chart topper with an angry resentment that neutralizes the saccharine lyric. For Mandy, the performers only sing the verse, not the overly familiar chorus.
That gives the songs enough distance that we can evaluate them on their own merits. Thus, Waldman and Co. reveal Manilow's desire to create decade-defying standards, ripe with lush romanticism running rampant in a field of lyrical melody. Whether he achieves that aim should fuel some after-show debates.
The keyboards by Hinton and Jeff Hess are note-perfect. The choreography is serviceable, although the Girl Scout campfire movements accompanying Daybreak will induce cringing and two disco numbers revive nightmares best left buried. The only sour directorial note is that the cast serenades over the audience's heads to the back wall.
The cast may be younger than the songs, but most are blessed with lovely voices and ample charisma. Rachel Klein, Don Febbraio and Dean Swann wring every ounce of heartache from an all-too-steady diet of blue-tinged laments for lost loves. Leah Springer, a brunette Reese Witherspoon with a searchlight smile, scores with Let Me Be Your Wings. Sarah Wolter, terrific in three musicals for Broward Stage Door Theatre, is breathtaking in the torchy When Love Is Gone. But the show may be strongest when the ensemble sings the kaleidoscopic arrangements, notably a touching One Voice split among five.
Bill Hirschman can be reached at 954-356-4513 or bhirschman@sun-sentinel.com.
THEATER REVIEW
Revue, through Jan. 25 at Atlantis Playhouse, 5893 S. Congress Ave., Boynton Beach. Shows 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday; 2 p.m. Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday; 7 p.m. Sunday. Tickets $26.50-$29. Call 561-304-3212.
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