ON STAGE
Music Lights Up The Night
By Lori Simmons Zelenko
ON A CLEAR DAY
The Irish Repertory Theatre
“A perfect summer treat for people to come and see,” sums up this great musical from the days of glorious musicals (1965) now intimately staged at The Irish Repertory Theatre. The comment from leading man Stephen Bogardus expresses the delightful charm of this whimsical musical with a score that lifts you sky high and keeps you there for the entire show; you may leave feeling like you are walking on air. But then could the combination of a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner (My Fair Lady) and music by Burton Lane (Finian’s Rainbow) be anything but elevating? It’s a romantic story of an extrasensory young woman, Daisy Gamble (played and sung beautifully by Melissa Errico). She sings and flowers bloom, and she always knows where you’ve placed your keys—but it’s her smoking habit that leads her to Dr. Mark Bruckner (Stephen Bogardus), a psychiatrist who will attempt to hypnotize her smoking addiction away.
The show opens with a chorus, a melodic array of voices singing “On a Clear Day.” Ahh, the story, well it does strain credulity, but the score is so beguiling that there is every reason to suspend disbelief and live in the moment, caught up in the past and present lives of the characters. Hypnotized street smart, modern Daisy becomes an 18th-century British aristocrat named Melinda Welles. Enchanting as she is confident, Mark falls under Melinda’s spell finding himself seething with jealousy as he watches her relive her great love affair with the passionate painter, Edward Moncrief (the dashing John Cudia).
Reporting diligently for her anti-smoking hypnosis sessions, Daisy starts falling in love with Mark who is now in love with Melinda. But when she reads her story in the papers (Mark leaked it), Daisy feels used. Her departure shakes him up and prompts my favorite tune (other than the title song) from the show, “Come Back to Me.” Yes, the show ends with Mark realizing that after all, it was Daisy who had the key to his heart and unlocked his formerly conventional mind in the process. Together they find they’re happily ever after.
The orchestra for this blissful production is bright and bubbly, an on-stage ensemble led by conductor Gary Adler. The sets are projected watercolors of the city; bridges, gardens, rooftops, in broad strokes by James Morgan. The direction by the Irish Rep’s Charlotte Moore is as fresh as the flowers Daisy charms into growing. Catch it before it closes September 6th. Info: irishrep.org.
GETTIN’ THE BAND BACK TOGETHER
Belasco Theatre
Who doesn’t dream about quitting their day job? Admittedly, we’ve all harbored yearnings to hold center stage and live the glamorous life. Well, in the new musical Gettin’ The Band Back Together that’s the story: Mitch Papadopoulos (Mitchell Jarvis) really wanted to be the next Bon Jovi, not a desk jockey, but security won over a chance at fame and trapped him with the lure of the high life—the high paying job, the high-rise apartment. But as luck would have it, he winds up losing the perks thanks to a pink slip and moves back to his mom’s place in Sayreville, New Jersey. His mom, by the way, is played by Marilu Henner.
When foreclosure threatens the family home, Mitch decides it’s time to dust off his guitar and save his small-town home. With songs, you can blast on the Jersey Turnpike and a music video that’s outrageously funny—and real in its quirky way, the band gets back together. And in the process, Mitch woos the high school sweetheart he left behind as he sets out to make his dream come true. Will he win The Battle of the Bands? See this irreverent, hilarious, and honestly, entertaining show to find out. Producers Hunter Arnold, Carl Daikeler, Ken Davenport, Richard Hopper, Roy Putrino and Richard Roth proudly present this production. Info: shubert.nyc/theatres/belasco.
THIS AIN’T NO DISCO
Linda Gross Theatre
This Ain’t No Disco is an impressionistic rock opera set in Studio 54 and Mudd Club-era New York City and from the creator of the cult rock phenomenon Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Stephen Trask and Peter Yanowitz (The Wallflowers, Tits of Clay). Camille A. Brown choreographs it and directed by Tony Award winner Darko Tresnjak (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Anastasia). Framed by the grit, the garbage strikes, the graffiti of 1979 New York City, the show tells the story of drifters and dreamers searching for their place in the night world of the clubs famous for far more than music back in the day.
In their uptown/downtown quest for revelry and kinship, every decision is fateful in a city where your future can turn on a dime bag. Among the stars are Krystina Alabado (The Mad Ones), Cameron Amandus (Spamilton), Will Connolly (After The Blast), Eddie Cooper (The New World), Lulu Fall (Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812), Hannah Florence (Paramour: A Cirque du Soleil Musical), Chilina Kennedy (Beautiful), Peter LaPrade (The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical), and John-Michael Lyles (Sweeney Todd). Tune in for an out of the ordinary experience. Info: atlantictheater.org.
