Under the stewardship of Mel Miller, with stage direction by Thomas Sabella-Mills, the company Musicals Tonight! proudly continues its invaluable function of presenting small-scale revivals of truly obscure shows -- truly obscure as in, "If you don't make it a point to see a show when they do it, it's highly unlikely that you'll ever see it staged again anywhere, anytime, any place."
Their current offering is All American, a 1962 flop (86 perfs.) with a book by Mel Brooks (!) and a score by Charles Strouse and Lee Adams that includes one of the most gorgeous songs ever written for the theater, "Once Upon a Time." The original production starred Ray Bolger and Eileen Herlie; the Musicals Tonight! cast is headed by Matt Wilson, Kate Marilly, Sean Bell, Jessica Wagner, and Mark Thomas Epperson, and also includes Renee Barnett, Sara Jayne Blackmore, Ronald Brown, Jody Cook, Judah Gavra, David Brent Howard, Andy Jones, James Kidd, BJ Olson, Sam Prince, Jessica Taige, and Georgia Tapp. Here are my photos of the show, which runs October 25-November 6 in the company's new home, The Lion at Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street). For more information, visit www.musicalstonight.org.
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Published on Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Michael Portantiere has more than 30 years' experience as an editor and writer for TheaterMania.com, InTHEATER magazine, and BACK STAGE. He has interviewed theater notables for NPR.org, PLAYBILL, STAGEBILL, and OPERA NEWS, and has written notes for several cast albums. Michael is co-author of FORBIDDEN BROADWAY: BEHIND THE MYLAR CURTAIN, published in 2008 by Hal Leonard/Applause. Additionally, he is a professional photographer whose pictures have been published by THE NEW YORK TIMES, the DAILY NEWS, and several major websites. (Visit www.followspotphoto.com for more information.) He can be reached at [email protected]
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