Here's something you might be interested in.
In this classic American musical, Frank Loesser's songs run like New York cabs; another's always just around the corner, often a great one at that.
Lamb's Players included a personal favorite that sometimes gets cut. Arvide Abernathy, leader of the Salvation Army station, comes from nowhere and sings to Sarah Brown:
"Velvet I can wish you/ For the collar of your coat/ And fortune smiling all along your way/ But more I cannot wish you/ Than to wish you find your love/ Your own true love this day.
"Mansions I can wish you/ Seven footmen all in red/ And calling cards upon a silver tray/ But more I cannot wish you..."
That song gets me every time. He can't give her Amanda Wingfield's dream of "calling cards" in The Glass Menagerie, or the life of Grace Kelly - just the humble wish that trumps them all.
At Lamb's, Ralph Johnson's Arvide bangs a drum and waits his turn. Then he does touching justice to one of the wisest songs in musical theater.
Overall, Lamb's opening night fell below Johnson's pinnacle. Many in the cast weren't fully invested in their roles. And few spoke the formal, Damon Runyon "Bloodhounds of Broadway" style the show requires.
The five-piece band, which occasionally drowned-out the singers, had some clunkers. Mike Buckley's two-level set was unduly drab, though Nathan Pierson's lighting framed playing areas effectively.
Brent Schindele and Kelsey Venter, as Sky Masterson and Miss Sarah Brown, sang well but toned down their roles, as if ensemble characters and not spot-lit leads.
Eileen Bowman's a remarkable exception. Recently several local actors have played what are, obviously, dream roles. Rosina Reynolds' Amanda Wingfield at Cygnet; Mark Christopher Lawrence and M'Lafi Thompson, currently in Moxie's Raisin in the Sun, leap to mind. If Adelaide isn't a dream role, Bowman plays the chronic sniffler as if she were. Wearing some of Jeanne Reith's flashiest costumes, performing all evening deliberately under the weather - "a poy-son...could debellop a code" - Bowman's such a treat you can't wait to see what she'll do next.
The same is true for Colleen Kollar Smith's spectacular choreography: the design, that is, not the spotty execution, which felt under-rehearsed.
This was a "give them a week and they'll settle in" opening night, buoyed along by one of THE great musicals.
Where was I? "Music I can wish you/ Merry music while you're young/ And wisdom when your hair has turned to gray/ But more I cannot wish you..."
Oh, yeah...
Lamb's Players Theatre, 1142 Orange Avenue, Coronado. Playing through March 25; Tuesday through Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at 8:00 p.m. Matinee Saturday at 4:00 p.m. and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. 619-437-0600.
In this classic American musical, Frank Loesser's songs run like New York cabs; another's always just around the corner, often a great one at that.
Lamb's Players included a personal favorite that sometimes gets cut. Arvide Abernathy, leader of the Salvation Army station, comes from nowhere and sings to Sarah Brown:
"Velvet I can wish you/ For the collar of your coat/ And fortune smiling all along your way/ But more I cannot wish you/ Than to wish you find your love/ Your own true love this day.
"Mansions I can wish you/ Seven footmen all in red/ And calling cards upon a silver tray/ But more I cannot wish you..."
That song gets me every time. He can't give her Amanda Wingfield's dream of "calling cards" in The Glass Menagerie, or the life of Grace Kelly - just the humble wish that trumps them all.
At Lamb's, Ralph Johnson's Arvide bangs a drum and waits his turn. Then he does touching justice to one of the wisest songs in musical theater.
Overall, Lamb's opening night fell below Johnson's pinnacle. Many in the cast weren't fully invested in their roles. And few spoke the formal, Damon Runyon "Bloodhounds of Broadway" style the show requires.
The five-piece band, which occasionally drowned-out the singers, had some clunkers. Mike Buckley's two-level set was unduly drab, though Nathan Pierson's lighting framed playing areas effectively.
Brent Schindele and Kelsey Venter, as Sky Masterson and Miss Sarah Brown, sang well but toned down their roles, as if ensemble characters and not spot-lit leads.
Eileen Bowman's a remarkable exception. Recently several local actors have played what are, obviously, dream roles. Rosina Reynolds' Amanda Wingfield at Cygnet; Mark Christopher Lawrence and M'Lafi Thompson, currently in Moxie's Raisin in the Sun, leap to mind. If Adelaide isn't a dream role, Bowman plays the chronic sniffler as if she were. Wearing some of Jeanne Reith's flashiest costumes, performing all evening deliberately under the weather - "a poy-son...could debellop a code" - Bowman's such a treat you can't wait to see what she'll do next.
The same is true for Colleen Kollar Smith's spectacular choreography: the design, that is, not the spotty execution, which felt under-rehearsed.
This was a "give them a week and they'll settle in" opening night, buoyed along by one of THE great musicals.
Where was I? "Music I can wish you/ Merry music while you're young/ And wisdom when your hair has turned to gray/ But more I cannot wish you..."
Oh, yeah...
Lamb's Players Theatre, 1142 Orange Avenue, Coronado. Playing through March 25; Tuesday through Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at 8:00 p.m. Matinee Saturday at 4:00 p.m. and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. 619-437-0600.