I 'm glad the Westchester Broadway dinner theater has chosen to revive I Do! I Do! It's a good show—with a melodic, nicely varied score and a solid script—that isn't revived too often. Based on the Jan de Hartog play The Fourposter, this two-character musical boasts a script and lyrics by Tom Jones and music by Harvey Schmidt (creators of The Fantasticks). It's not an easy show to pull off, because all of the weight must be carried by two actors. The original Broadway production paired two of Broadway's all-time greats—Robert Preston and Mary Martin. They're a tough act to follow; their star quality still comes through vividly on the cast album. Mark Zimmerman and Lauri Landry in the Westchester production (directed by Richard Sabellico) are not the larger-than-life stars that Preston and Martin were. But they're well-matched, have good chemistry and are utterly believable as the married couple we're following over a span of fifty years. They handle effectively such appealing songs as "My Cup Runneth Over," "Love Isn't Everything" and "Flamin' Agnes." And in the book scenes, they're offering the best acting I've seen at Westchester Broadway in years. It's hard to tell from this production exactly what years are being covered, though; I wish more thought had been given to anchoring the story in time. But I was happy to spend an evening with these two people. And having them age themselves by applying stage makeup in front of us is a nice theatrical touch; it works.
Chip Deffaa
Cabaret Scenes
February 17, 2011
www.cabaretscenes.org
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