My Vaudeville Man!
York Theatre
New York, NY
I would go see the show again just to see a remarkable number called "The Tap Drunk." This is the best dance number I have seen on any stage in the past year. Shonn Wiley, who performs it with utterly engaging offhand grace, is the show's star and co-choreographer. Lynne Taylor-Corbett is the director and co-choreographer.
In this fully realized number which has to be seen to be believed. We are supposed to be witnessing a challenge-dance involving five dancers. Wiley is the only performer physically present on stage. (Indeed there are only two actors, in total, in this impeccably cast musical: Wiley, portraying vaudevillian Jack Donahue, and Karen Murphy, portraying his disapproving, working-class Irish mother.) And yet the entire encounter feels real. We can easily “see” everything going on. Wiley’s dancing is beguiling. If you appreciate a good song-and-dance routine for its sheer showbiz value, this is a “must see.” But the number also advances the story. No mean feat, that.
There’s much that I admire and appreciate in this show. There are flaws, too, which we’ll touch upon shortly; but they shouldn’t stop you from going to see this production. Jeff Hochauser wrote the show's book (telling the story of an aspiring performer’s start in show business, and his mother’s reactions), Bob Johnston composed the music; and they jointly created the lyrics. Doug Oberhamer is the music director/arranger. Despite some imperfections, the show held my interest from beginning to end. I was thoroughly engaged. It’s one of the rare shows that I’ve watched thinking, “Boy, I wish I’d thought of creating this musical,” and “Boy, I wish I could have helped work on this one; it looks like they had fun.”
The source material is a book by Jack Donahue (1892-1930), which was published posthumously: Letters from a Hoofer to his Ma—letters Donahue wrote as a fledgling vaudevillian, way back in 1910. (This unique, little-known book is in print today; they ought to offer copies for sale at the theater.) Donahue went on to become a star on Broadway in the 1920s. But his early letters—and this eminently agreeable show that Hochauser and Johnston have created from them—open a window onto the whole vaudeville era. And there is something timeless and universal about Donahue’s story; he could be any aspiring artist with big dreams, and a parent who’s fearful he’s not making the wisest of choices. At one point, Donahue explains to his mother about having to pay money to his agent (and not necessarily having any money left over for her). The mother inquires: “What does an agent do?” “No one’s really sure,” Donahue replies innocently, getting a good laugh from the audience; Hochauser can take pride in lines like that.
Wiley is perfectly cast as the naive, hopeful, well-intentioned 19-year-old seeking fame and fortune in “the show business” (as it was referred to, back in the day). Murphy’s role is secondary, but she, too, is totally satisfying. Murphy has had plenty of good opportunities for exposure in the past in musicals, concerts, and cabaret work. It will be no surprise, for many theater-goers, that she is such a fine, utterly natural singer and actor; and so funny, too, when needed .
But this show is giving Wiley a long-deserved breakout role as a song-and-dance man.
Eight years ago, when I reviewed George M! at Goodspeed Opera House, I thought the most impressive member of the cast—bringing a little something extra to Randy Skinner's choreography and just generally shining on stage—was a young newcomer in the ensemble named Shonn Wiley. (He had a certain degree of “star quality” about him; the nominal star of that production did not.) A bit later, I was happy to see him on Broadway, dancing his heart out as a member of the huge, machine-like cast of 42nd Street. Since then, I've enjoyed seeing him gradually get more to do, whether it was in Paper Mill's richly rewarding revival of the musical Ragtime"or the Off-Broadway murder drama "hrill Me."
But only now has he finally gotten a role that allows him to fully show what he's capable of. For significant chunks of My Vaudeville Man!, Wiley holds the stage by himself. He’s interesting, he’s likeable, and he’s completely believable, whether he’s just starting out, radiating optimism, or showing hints of the drinking problem that will eventually cost him his life. At one point, he plays his own father, convincingly enough. His dancing is fun. He makes it all appear effortless. I would have liked seeing him dance even more. He’s so good at it, I wish he’d been give more chances to cut loose.
Murphy gets a couple of songs that serve her well. She is effective, singing of her irresponsible husband, in “So the Old Dog has Come Home.” And she and Wiley have a well-crafted duet, “I Was Wrong,” sharing their contrasting views on a gal he’s met in vaudeville.
I like the way musical director Doug Oberhamer has wisely worked in underscoring for key moments, and also the way the tap dance sequences are arranged; it's terrific craftsmanship.
The music in the show, however, is uneven. Most of it has a pleasant, amiable feel. (I thought "The French Kiss" was not up to snuff.) And Wiley and Murphy are certainly always easy on the ears. If a cast album were available I’d buy it. (And with just two actors, this would certainly be an affordable cast album to produce; there should be an album for sale in the lobby.)
The music is OK. But I wish more of the numbers had stronger melodic hooks, and I wish the music could, more often, really evoke the era.
America was so rich, musically, in the early 20th century (think of George M. Cohan, Scott Joplin, Irving Berlin, W.C. Handy, James Thornton, Shelton Brooks—to name just a half-dozen excellent writers active in the period depicted in this show). In their musical Ragtime, Flaherty and Ahrens managed to create numbers that work perfectly well for contemporary ears, yet summon up vividly, at appropriate times, the jaunty syncopations of an earlier era; they did an outstanding job of blending past and present. There were times when I wished the music and the arrangements of My Vaudeville Man! were more strikingly evocative of the era being represented. The libretto of this show does such a good job of putting us in the right time and place, and the choreography likewise includes appropriate cues to the period (and even to artists mentioned—so that Wiley strikes a pose we might associate with Bill Robinson, for example, when Robinson is mentioned in passing); I just wanted the melodies and arrangements to be equally effective.
My other complaint about the show—and again, it’s a relatively minor one; I got a great deal of pleasure from My Vaudeville Man!—is that the ending felt somewhat abrupt and arbitrary. It felt a little bit as though the creators decided to tack on a number that would be upbeat because audiences generally like happy endings, and because they needed to feature the co-stars together for the finale. But the trajectory of the show, with the references to Jack Donahue’s drinking, seemed to lead me to expect a bit darker ending, or to feel somehow that a darker ending might have been more organic, appropriate, and satisfying. I went along with what was presented, because I was caught up in a show I liked; but the ending still felt like a little bit of a cheat for me. Like a part of me wanted something other than the standard happy ending. Or wanted a little more finesse in getting to the happy ending after the references to problems with drink. I think something could perhaps still be doctored there, to improve the show so the ending feels a bit more inevitable.
The physical production of this show is quite handsome. I felt good about the show from the first glimpse of the set. Kudos to set designer Jim Morgan, lighting designer Mary Jo Dondlinger, and costume designer David Toser, whose ever-changing outfits were a succession of dapper delights—the hats, the jackets, the vests, even the glorious red spats; Toser adds life to the show.
This show is currently scheduled to run through year’s end. It is a co-production of the York Theatre Company (James Morgan, Producing Artistic Director, and W. David McCoy, Chairman of the Board) and Melanie Herman—the same team that gave us The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!). That show wound up transferring to a larger theater for a commercial Off-Broadway run, and has gotten assorted production regionally. I liked Musical of Musicals. But—despite some imperfections—this is a better show, with a book that has more to say, more inventive staging, and much stronger performances. If Wiley isn't nominated for some awards for his work here, there's no justice. I know we’re in tough economic times; but this charming little show deserves all the success, and more, of Musical of Musicals. There are few enough song-and-dance shows of any distinction. There's a good deal to savor in this show.
Chip Deffaa
Cabaret Scenes
November 9, 2008
www.cabaretscenes.org