Thank God that City Centers Encores! series exists. Without it certain musicals from theater history would probably never see the light of day again. One such musical, Frank Loesser and George Abbotts Where's Charley?, is on display this weekend.
Playing a highly respectable 792 performances at The St. James Theater during it's original Broadway run in 1948, Where's Charley? concerns two college friends and their madcap courtship of two young ladies. There is mistaken identity, a man in drag, and an audience sing a long. The score is very good for being Mr. Loessers first Broadway outing. It contains many wonderful melodies and some clever lyrics. The book by George Abbott is old fashioned and out dated, but almost goes without saying.
This particular production, however, is not quite as good as it could be. There are several problems that begin with the set design. Set design for a concert production shouldn't really be all that important, but the set design for this adaptation inhibits the staging. Due to this inhibition, the staging is at times manic, and makes the action unclear. The costumes are also uncomplimentary.
Casting is also a problem. Rebecca Luker and Howard McGillin give excellent performances as the "grown ups" of the piece. The two young women however, are extremely bland. They both have lovely voices, and are adequate dancers, but bring no personality to their characters. The young men fare a bit better, but neither is extremely well developed on the page, and neither actor is going above and beyond to deliver anything extra.
The star of this production of Where's Charley is the Choreography. Each dance number is superbly choreographed by Alex Sanchez. The ballet that comes at the end of Act I, and marching band number at the top of the same act are some of the most entertaining and intelligent choreography that I've seen.
While it is a blessing that this small gem of a score is being heard again, it's a shame that it's in such a lack luster production.
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