Blockbuster songs lose impact without context in revue
Excellent performances, but big hits are mixed in with obscure Broadway tunes
Back in 2006, I caught the multiaward-winning actress and singer Liza Minnelli in concert. Despite the skyscraper heights of her earlier career onstage and film, she was more famous at that time for her train-wreck personal life and tabloid headlines of her battles with addictions.
However, as she commanded the stage with stories of her earlier career, and told the audience that songs like Cabaret and New York, New York were written specifically for her, those two performances alone made you forget anyone else had ever portrayed those roles or sang those songs.
Not bad when you consider no less than Frank Sinatra became as synonymous with the latter as he was for his signature rendition of Paul Anka’s My Way.
Both Cabaret and New York, New York are but a small sampling of a lengthy musical collaboration between Liza and two specific composers — a partnership of John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb. Onstage, they gave us Chicago, Cabaret, Kiss of the Spider Woman among less wellknown
endeavours, while on the big screen they wrote music for film versions of their Broadway successes, and New York, New York.
Stage West Calgary’s latest presentation bypasses the stories of those successes with And the World Goes ’Round, a straightforward musical revue of songs that are instantly recognizable, and many that are not. It is the distance between the familiar and the not so much that keeps the show from rising to the success of the bigger productions enjoyed for decades.
It’s not due to a lack of talent onstage, or off, particularly as Tim French is doing double duty as director/choreographer. A regular fixture with these musicals, French has cast a quintet of actors who showcase vocal and dance skills, as well as hidden talents when the scene calls for roller-skating or a group ukulele strum.
Sarah Horsman opens the show and sets the tone with her powerful performance of the title song. At Stage West most recently in Rock Of Ages and Pure ’90s, Horsman alternates with a variety of songs from Zorba, Chicago, and the powerhouse from Cabaret, Maybe This Time. This particular brand of musical theatre is clearly in her wheelhouse and demonstrates her vocal clarity and strengths.
Troy Goldthorp is one of two male cast members, tackling Sometimes A Day Goes By, Mr. Cellophane (Chicago) and Marry Me. He has a classic Broadway voice and is a fine dancer as well, as seen in an extended scene with Sash Striga.
Striga returns to this stage after her recent role in Legally Blonde to bring to life to a few other Kander & Ebb classics, including A Quiet Thing from Flora the Red Menace, which incidentally was the first collaboration between Minelli and the two writers.
Sarah Higgins and Tyler McKinnon also prove themselves amply able, rousing out soaring versions of lesser-known songs from The Rink, Funny Lady and Kiss of the Spider Woman.
Many of these songs are showstoppers — enduring favourites covered by a number of artists and actors over the past few decades, with some earning Academy Awards and Tony Awards in the role. The original production of this show won awards, and it has had a reasonable shelf life in regional and community theatre productions.
But just plucking songs out of productions removes the impact of the storylines. There are also too many unfamiliar songs if you’re not a diehard Broadway fan.
While it failed to win me over, And the World Goes ’Round does pay tribute to a duo of writers who share the heady stratosphere of fellow composers like Rodgers & Hammerstein or Webber & Rice. Like even those legendary songwriters, you may not recognize every song, but the ones you do are unmistakable.