HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2007-08-30, Page 35THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 2007. PAGE 35.Entertainment Leisure&Theatre reviewNothing bad to say about ‘My One and Only’
When it comes to My One and
Only there’s nothing bad to be said.
Playing at Stratford’s Avon
Theatre until Oct. 28 this production
does you a tremendous favour. It
gets you smiling, keeps you smiling
and leaves you smiling.
The story is light romantic fare.
But with all the stress of real life, it’s
nice to be entertained by something
that asks nothing of you but to sit
back and enjoy. It’s really just a song
and dance from beginning to end.
Even the pre-show warning to turn
off the bells and whistles of cell
phones and pagers, was breezy.
A feather-light plot is given
substance by imagery and style. And
of course, by the score, featuring
such indelible tunes such as
S’Wonderful, My One and Only, and
How Long Has This Been Going
On? by George and Ira Gershwin.
The play is a posthumous creation,
done in the early 1980s, long after
George Gershwin’s death in 1937.
The book by Peter Stone and
Timothy S. Mayer is a reworking of
the Gershwin’s Funny Face.
It’s the giddy 1920s, and Captain
Billy Buck Chandler from Texas is
set to the be the first aviator to cross
the Atlantic from America to Paris.
His plan gets side-tracked when
Prince Nicolai arrives with his
Aquacade ladies, including star
Edythe Herbert.
Trying to break free from Nicolai
who holds a secret about his “little
fish”, Edythe convinces Chandler to
get her out of America. The plane
crashes, and the pair fall in love
while waiting to be rescued.
It doesn’t take long, however, as
the crash occurred on Staten Island.
Nicolai arrives and takes her back.
Edythe then flees to Morocco where
Billy Buck tracks her down and
proposes marriage.
With dazzling tap-dancing,
choreographed by director Michael
Lichtenfeld, set to the jazzy ‘20s
tunes, the effect is nothing less than
joyful.
The set design based on Dutch
artist Piet Mondrian’s work by
Douglas Paraschuk is a series of
graphic panels that help with scene
shifts and transformations. The
result is a bold, sleek design that
serves as backdrop, then opens to
reveal some entertainingly,
innovated elements. The Aquacade
rehearsal is worth the price of
admission itself.
Lichtefeld said he had first thought
of Cynthia Dale for this role 10 years
ago after directing her in Camelot.
And while Dale does seem to have a
bit of an issue with accents, when
you can sing and dance like she
does, with such evident pleasure,
who really cares.
Laird Mackintosh had big shoes to
fill, reprising the role of the aviator
made famous by the incomparable
Tommy Tune. He does the job
handily, and footedly too. Like Dale,
he looks as if he’s never had this
much fun before.
David W. Keeley shows himself
again to be an adept actor. His Prince
is both smarmy and charming.
Dayna Tekatch as Mickey, Marcus
Nance as the Rev. J.D. Montgomery
and Mark Cassius as Mr. Magix are
audience pleasers. Magix’s soft shoe
with the only “white, tap-dancing
aviator” to enter his Tonsorial
Sartorial Emporial, is a highlight.
The large supporting cast, puts
jubilance in every scene, helping put
the songs in your heart and the smile
on your face.
It all makes for a production that
could as easily have been titled after
another tune from its score — S’
Wonderful.
Toe-tappin’
The soft-shoe at Mr. Magix’ Tonsorial Sartorial Emporial
between Laird Mackintosh, left, as Captain Billy Buck
Chandler and Mark Cassius as Mr. Magix was one of many
highlights in Stratford Avon Theatre’s My One and Only.
(David Hou photo)
By Bonnie Gropp
The Citizen
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