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59E59 Theaters – May 25 – July 3
That Cy Coleman was one of America’s great composers is not up for debate. His contributions to the Broadway stage and his catalogue of individual songs are prodigious, not only in quantity, but also in quality and stylistic variety. His Broadway shows include Sweet Charity, Little Me, City of Angels, Seesaw, The Will Rogers Follies, Barnum, The Life, and others, and among his single songs are “Witchcraft,” “It Amazes Me,” “The Best Is Yet to Come,” “I’m Gonna Laugh You Right Out of My Life,” “Firefly,” “Pass Me By,” and “When in Rome (I Do as The Romans Do.” Evidence of Coleman’s stature is currently on display in the exhilarating revue The Best Is Yet to Come: The Music of Cy Coleman.
Devised and diirected by David Zippel, the show gives us 31 Coleman songs, of which 13 have lyrics by his most frequent collaborator, Carolyn Leigh, 9 have words by Zippel, 4 by Dorothy Fields, and the remaining 5 by a handful of other writing partners. Most of the selections range from the familiar to the famous, and a few are marvelous obscurities.
Billy Stritch provided the musical direction and arrangements, and he conducts an eight-piece ensemble, which, with orchestrations by Don Sebesky, produces a big-band sound that is immediately inviting and a perfect complement to the prevailing tone of the evening: bright and lively. Stritch actually does quintuple duty, for he’s also the show’s pianist and a singing member of the cast; the other members are David Burnham, Sally Mayes, Howard McGillin, Lillias White, and Rachel York. A more pleasing group of singer-actor-performers would be hard to imagine.
Everyone is given—and takes—the chance to shine in solo turns. “Never Met a Man I Didn’t Like” (Comden & Green) is mated with “The Oldest Profession” (Ira Gasman)—an inspired pairing, a delightful segue, and a knockout performance by Lillias White, who also wows with “Don’t Ask a Lady (Leigh). White’s artistry and forceful presence consistently grab our attention. Sally Mayes, another commanding performer, triumphs with “Nobody Does It Like Me” (Fields); seldom have I seen this song of self-deprecation performed with such self-assurance, and I know I’ve never seen anyone else get so much out of the piece. She sings the hell out of “With Every Breath I Take” (Zippel). Rachel York does a smashing job on “Hey, Look Me Over,” which has been charmingly combined with “The Doodle Song” (both by Leigh), with Burnham and McGillin on backup.
The men acquit themselves admirably with several Carolyn Leigh songs. David Burnham sings “I’ve Got Your Number” splendidly, and the song-and-dance-man cockiness he brings to “Witchcraft” makes me want to see him do Pal Joey. Howard McGillin scores with “You Fascinate Me So,” as does Billy Stritch with “Some Kind of Music,” a buoyant and infectious celebration of the joy that music brings.
Group and ensemble numbers also deliver, with terrific concepts, arrangements, staging, and performances. White and Stritch do a winning duet of “Little Me” (Leigh), and with “What You Don’t Know About Women” (Zippel), Mayes and York have a swell time literally putting Burnham down. Performed by White and the cast, “Those Hands” (Alan & Marilyn Bergman) is a grand, big number, and Burnham, Mayes, McGillin, and York join in a money medley that is wonderful in every way (the men’s voices sound especially beautiful together).
One of the songs in that medley is unfamiliar: “Never Enough,” with lyrics by Zippel, is from the score to a musical titled N. The evening includes three other selections from that score: “The Measure of Love” (not Zippel’s most persuasive lyric); “I’d Give the World,” in a passionate and affecting rendition by McGillian; and “Only the Rest of My Life,” a dramatic and emotionally powerful piece about a couple whose relationship is at an end—a superb song gloriously performed by York and Burnham. This revue marks these songs’ first professional performance, and as Daniel Tosh says, for that we thank you.
Throughout the evening, the transitions from song to song are smooth and smart, adroitly establishing situations that add texture and dimension to the material. Lorin Latarro’s choreography keeps the proceedings perky—though the movement in the first song is too busy, a fault so common I’ve given it a name: opening number syndrome. With the help of Michael Gilliam’s lighting, the set by Douglas W. Schmidt provides a gratifying environment of nightlife glitz. Surprisingly, William Ivey Long’s costumes are uneven, some of them not as attractive or flattering as one would wish.
If I may cavil, the show would benefit from a more generous sprinkling of mellow moments to give the evening more contrast and contours. York’s rendition of the lovely “Come Summer” (Leigh) is quite good, but she approaches it as an 11 o’clock number; it would be more poignant if she took it in a notch. Similarly, Stritch does a sensitive job on “It Amazes Me” (Leigh), but his performance has an element of self-aware presentation; it would be more effective if he were more introspective. Since the show as is, though, is such a high, perhaps it is ignoble to complain.
Note: Natascia Diaz substitutes for Sally Mayes June 16 – 19.
Roy Sander has been covering cabaret and theatre for over thirty years. He’s written cabaret and theatre reviews, features, and commentary for seven print publications, most notably Back Stage, and for CitySearch on the Internet. He covered cabaret monthly on “New York Theatre Review” on PBS TV, and cabaret and theatre weekly on WLIM-FM radio. He was twice a guest instructor at the London School of Musical Theatre. A critic for BistroAwards.com, he is also the site’s Reviews Editor; in addition, he is Chairman of the Advisory Board of MAC.
