Strike Up the Band
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Cast: Alex Sanchez (Timothy Harper), Bryan Harris (C. Edgar Sloane), Ron Holgate (Horace J. Fletcher), Tanny McDonald (Mrs. Draper), Kristin Chenoweth (Anne Draper), Jim Corti (George Spelvin), Jason Danieley (Jim Townsend), Emily Loesser (Joan Fletcher), David Titus (Colonel Holmes), Timothy Ellis (Soldier, Ensemble); Robert M. Armitage, Therese Friedemann, John Halmi, Michael Hollick, Angela Howell, Gary Kilmer, Melinda Klump, Joel Newsome, Leslie Stroud, Bill Szobody, Yvette Tucker.
With this "Strike Up the Band," the Goodspeed Opera House is back on track, offering a comparatively rare revival of a musical of historical significance from one of the early musical comedy periods best suited to the intimate far-from-Broadway theater. At its best, the neatly in-period production offers more than a few moments of inspired musical theater.
But having opted to go with the book of the original 1927 version of the show , which closed out of town, rather than with the revised 1930 version which made it to Broadway, why didn't the Goodspeed then stick with the courage of its convictions? Instead it gives theatergoers an Act 1 with both the 1927 book and 1927 score, but then cuts four of the 1927 songs and brings in three of the 1930 songs for Act 2, with inevitable adjustments to the 1927 book, thereby coming up with a version that's neither the 1927 nor the 1930. The production casts doubt on the received wisdom about why the first version didn't make it to Broadway: that its satirical anti-war George S. Kaufman book was ahead of its time. On the strength of what we see and hear at the Goodspeed, this belief overstates the case for Kaufman's book, some of which is as corny as any other 1920s musical comedy book, and underestimates '20s audiences. Anti-war satire was not, after all, unknown to the '20s. "Strike Up the Band" is one of the most Gilbert & Sullivan of all the Gershwins' musicals, replete with comparatively gentle satire verging on the brink of spoof and a number of fast patter songs.
The 1927 version also has what might be the Gershwins' most simply beautiful song, "The Man I Love," which was inexplicably cut from several Gershwin musicals, including the 1930 version of "Strike Up the Band." In the 1927 version, it's a duet, "The Man I Love/The Girl I Love," for the musical's romantic hero and heroine, and, as is true of the entire Goodspeed score, it's performed in true '20s style with upbeat tempo and strict rhythm.
The two songs that make the biggest impact at the Goodspeed are two of the lesser-known numbers: the enchanting duet "Meadow Serenade" and the yearning "Homeward Bound," the latter superbly sung aboard a U.S Navy ship by an American soldier (a vocally magnetic Timothy Ellis in the role sung by Morton Downey Jr.'s father in 1927) and his shipmates (by far the best singing-and-dancing male chorus Goodspeed has had in years). The two numbers work so well because director Charles Repole allows them to unfold naturally, quite the reverse of the way he shoves the comedy scenes at the audience with all the finesse of a pneumatic drill. How welcome even an ounce of subtlety would be. Repole goes out of his way to kill laughs by having his cast beat them to death. This is particularly true in the case of David Titus' chubby kewpie doll Colonel Holmes and Tanny McDonald's dizzy man-chasing society mother, both of which are wildly overplayed.
In the important role of the owner of the American cheese factory who opts to go to war with Switzerland, Ron Holgate is strictly speaking too heavy-handed too, but at least his heart is in the right place and consequently he's more than bearable.
Vocally the production is far better on the male than the female side. One big problem is that the two leading ingenue roles have been cast with performers -- EmilyLoesser and Kristin Chenoweth -- with very similar voices: high, bright, rather shrill sopranos that tend to grate. Fortunately both women are ingratiating, petite Loesser in particular looking charmingly in period in her marcelled auburn wig.
The performer who captures the '20s style, look and vocal sound most effectively is Jason Danieley, as the musical's anti-war hero Jim Townsend. He's a juvenile with star quality who also gets to sing, very beautifully, some of the best songs, including "Meadow Serenade,""The Man I Love/The Girl I Love," and "Soon" with Loesser. The two work attractively together and Danieley's singing is exactly as it should be, revealing a pellucid high tenor produced with ease and feeling.
In the role of George Spelvin, Jim Corti reveals considerable comic and dancing talents. But somehow neither the character nor his performance fits comfortably into the production, and Corti's Marx Bros.-meet-Danny Kaye approach is too self-conscious.
Linda Goodrich's choreography is terrifically inventive, particularly in the high-flying jumps and splits of Alex Sanchez's factory foreman Timothy Harper and the tin-hatted, tap-dancing soldiers chorus.
James Noone's ebony, enamel and chromium art deco scenery (cuckoo-clock Swiss in the Switzerland scenes) makes the best possible use of the Goodspeed's small stage, actually opening it up. John Carver Sullivan's costumes are wittily in period. And Michael O'Flaherty and a small pit band (violin, trombone, reeds, trumpet, percussion and keyboards) do wonders with the score and its affectionate orchestrations and arrangements.
There is too much archness in this "Strike Up the Band," and certainly too much heavily unfunny comedy. But there are also real rewards, particularly for musical comedy historians and aficionados, who should be grateful to the Goodspeed for them.
Sets, James Noone; costumes, John Carver Sullivan; lighting, Kirk Bookman; orchestrations, Andrew Wilder; stage manager, Donna Cooper Hilton; casting, Warren Pincus, assistant stage manager, Deirdre McCrane. Executive director, Michael P. Price. Opened Oct. 20, 1995, at the Goodspeed Opera House. Reviewed Oct. 22; 398 seats; $ 33 top. Running time: 2 HOURS, 10 MIN.
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