‘42nd Street’ is love song to Broadway
Pacific Coast Repertory gives classic musical spirited revival as it opens season at Firehouse Arts Center
The remarkable thing about “42nd Street,” the show that opens Pacific Coast Repertory Theatre’s new season at Pleasanton’s Firehouse Arts Center, is how well it masquerades as a much older musical than it is. The stage musical debuted in 1980, but it’s based on the 1933 movie musical of the same title, as well as the now-obscure 1932 novel by Bradford Ropes that provided its source material.
The songs by composer Harry Warren and lyricist Al Dubin are all authentic 1930s numbers, even if only four of them are from the original movie, including “Shuffle Off to Buffalo,” “You’re Getting to Be a Habit withMe” and the title number. The rest are Warren-Dubin ditties cobbled together from more than a half-dozen other flicks, such as “We’re in the Money” from “Gold Diggers of 1933” and “Lullaby of Broadway” from“GoldDiggers of 1935.” There’s also one song with music byWarren and lyrics by Johnny Mercer, “There’s a Sunny Side to Every Situation,” from the film “Hard to Get.”
Another way this showbiz musical resembles oldtime tuners is the thinness of its plot and the fact that the songs rarely have anything to do with the story. The breezy libretto by Michael Stewart (“Bye Bye Birdie,” “Hello, Dolly!”) and Mark Bramble (“Barnum”) provides far less context than the movie does, let alone the novel. Any backstories of the characters are stripped away, and the romantic subplots are cursory at best.
The winningly upbeat members of the chorus aren’t given individual personalities, and it’s not at all clear what the various people hanging around the production were hired to do. We see Andy (focused, nononsense Mike Birr) putting the dancers through the paces, so we can gather that’s more or less his domain. But it takes some research to discover that Ali Lane’s comically high-spiritedMaggie and Derek Travis Collard’s timid Bert are the producers of “Pretty Lady,” the musical within the musical. All we need to know is they’re putting on a show, and the show must go on.
Legendary director Julian Marsh (entertainingly overbearing Edward Hightower) badly needs a new Broadway hit. The divaesque star of his show, Dorothy Brock ( haughty and charismatic Maria Mikheyenko), has tremendous presence and a wonderful voice but can’t dance. Still, he’s stuck with her because she’s dating the guy who’s financing the show ( Harvey T. Jordan with a mix of Southern bluster and childlike bewilderment). Fresh off the bus from Allentown, Pennsylvania, comes overenthusiastic and naive Peggy Sawyer (unassuming Jessica Maxey), who’s desperate to get into the show and can tap dance like a hurricane.
At first it seems like there’s going to be a romantic subplot with Billy (cocky Andrew Mondello), the male lead of “Pretty Lady,” who starts coming on strong as soon as she walks in the door (one of several incidents of sexual harassment in the show), but nothingmuch comes of that. Similarly, Dorothy’s side lover Pat seems like a nice guy, amiably played by Michael Monagle, but with what little we know about their fling it comes as a surprise when it starts to be taken seriously.
The whole ensemble is sharply coordinated in director Joy Sherratt’s dynamic production. The dance numbers are terrific throughout, with tightly synchronized ensemble tap dancing choreographed by Suzanne Brandt, and Margaret daSilva’s playful costumes add to the fun. The small orchestra led by music director Brett Strader delivers the show’s catchy songs deftly.
There may be not be much to “42nd Street” beyond a celebration of show business, but it’s packed with enough entertainment value that you’ll want to follow the title song’s advice to “come andmeet those dancing feet.”