Review: 'I Love A Piano' Keeps The 'Blue Skies' Away
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
Not all of the songs are sung entirely, and at times they transition so quickly in the Wagon Wheel Theatre production that you can miss the switch.
However, the songs mostly were well delivered opening night Wednesday that it made for an enjoyable night of song. There were a few numbers – like “Russian Lullaby” sung by Kira Lace Hawkins – that I would have personally prefered to hear more of, but sometimes that’s the way a revue goes. You don’t always get the whole pie, just a slice. Hawkins on a ballad like “Russian Lullaby” though is golden.
As for a plot, well, it’s a revue remember. There’s not so much a plot as a thread that carries the audience from song to song. That throughline is the piano. From Alexander’s Music Shop in 1910, to a Midwestern summer stock theater in the late 1950s (aka the Wagon Wheel), the piano is always there front and center. Regardless of what’s happening in the world around it, like the Depression or World War II, the piano is there.
There are seven scenes in Act I, and four more in Act II. Each scene is set around a different time period, but the locations almost could be anywhere.
Each of the six actors in this musical production have character names, but the characters don’t change or develop over the 40-something year span. The show isn’t about them anyway, it’s about Berlin and his music.
The first song of the show is “Let Me Sing and I’m Happy”, sung by Eileen (Hillary Smith), Alex (David Schlumpf) and Jim (Dan Smith). Eventually the other characters join them on stage, including Ginger (Jennifer Dow), Sadie (Hawkins) and George (Stephen Anthony).
I didn’t recognize any of the songs from the first three scenes. Some of them were good songs and well delivered, especially Anthony on “Pack Up Your Sins and Go to the Devil”, but I just didn’t recognize any of them.
Then Dan broke into “Blue Skies” in the fourth scene, set in the early 1930s and the Depression, and I could sing along with him in my head. Way before I ever knew that “Blue Skies” was a Berlin song, I was singing that song. I’m not even sure where or when I first heard it, but I’ve known it and sang it for as long as I can remember.
Hillary eventually joined Dan on that song.
Maybe it’s a Smith thing, but Dan and Hillary really act and sing well off one another. Their voices are very complimentary toward each other, which audiences will find throughout in “I Love A Piano” on “Blue Skies” as well as such numbers as “I Left My Heart at the Stage Door Canteen”, “Easter Parade” and especially “We’re a Couple of Swells”.
After “Blue Skies”, more songs I know are performed in this show, and knowing the music helps make a show more enjoyable. There was “Steppin’ Out With My Baby” by Dan and Anthony, “Top Hat, White Tie and Tails” sung by Schlumpf and “Puttin’ on the Ritz” by Dan again in scene four.
Each of the six performers for this show has a solo, but there are also a lot of duets and company songs.
One of my favorite solos of the night from Dow was her rendition of “Say It Isn’t So” in scene six. Set in a ballroom in the early 1940s, it’s a slower song, but I enjoyed her delivery of it.
She later has a fun time in Act II, scene I with “What Are We Gonna Do With All the Jeeps?”, then beautifully ends the show with her start of the song “I Love A Piano”.
During the “Jeeps” song, it was fun to watch Anthony’s facial expressions as Dow “undressed” behind a blanket as he and Dan held it up as a curtain for her. He added a little comedy to Dow’s sultry moment, and I thought that was a nice touch on his part.
Anthony, Dow and Schlumpf also do a really nice job on “Lazy” in Act II, Scene 2. When they break out the kazoos though, that was the chocolate frosting on the chocolate cake.
The song that really got everyone’s attention Wednesday night, however, was Hawkins delivery of “God Bless America”. As she started singing it, and an image of the Stars & Stripes waved on the screen, I spotted an older gentleman stand up. Then another. By the time all six of the actors were taking part in singing the song, the entire theater was standing up and displaying their patriotism.
The song was a conclusion to Act I, but also represented the conclusion to World War II in the “story” of this revue.
In my notes, I also wrote down how I felt that Hawkins could and should deliver her rendition of “God Bless America” at big events like the Super Bowl. It would go over very well.
One ballad that Hawkins got to sing from start to finish, I believe, and I was so glad that she got to was “Suppertime”. As performed for this show, her character’s significant other wasn’t going to return home from the war. Hawkins’ performance on “Suppertime” was like butter. So well done, so perfect.
Anthony, Schlumpf and Dan have a good trio going on “How Deep Is the Ocean” as their characters realize they are being drafted for the war. Anthony beautifully starts out the song well, and Schlumpf and Dan expertly add back up. I especially then liked how at moments Anthony gets a little softer on the song. Nice touch.
Hillary’s best solo comes with “What’ll I Do?” It’s during a time when her character is dealing with her man having gone off to war. Her character breaks into tears, and Hillary made me believe she was really upset about it. The song and that moment were really hers and she owned it.
Act II, Scene 3 is all about Berlin’s music from “Annie Get Your Gun”. The last time I could find that Wagon Wheel Theatre did that musical was in 2005 with Carrie McNulty in the lead. I remembered the 2005 show as they sang “There’s No Business Like Show Business” and “Anything You Can Do” last night.
“Anything You Can Do” was probably the most fun song of “I Love a Piano”, especially when Dow’s, Hawkins’ and Hillary’s characters were trying to outdo each other. Then when Hawkins kept that note for forever – impressive! Of course, the song started out well anyway with Dow singing it with Anthony because those two also make a fine singing duo.[[In-content Ad]]There’s a seventh but uncredited performer in the program in this show. Derek Grose pops in here and there to be a cop, a director and other little bits, but his non-speaking moments support the overall show and I thought I’d give him a little credit where it’s due.
Overall, WWT Artistic Director Scott Michaels did a fine job with this show. I liked how he incorporated things like the imagery on the screens above the stage, the piano, etc. Some moments were pure slapstick, while others tugged a bit at the heartstrings.
My rating of the show (out of four): 3.25.
Tickets are on sale now and range from $12 to $31. For more information or to purchase tickets online, visit www.wagonwheeltheatre.org
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Not all of the songs are sung entirely, and at times they transition so quickly in the Wagon Wheel Theatre production that you can miss the switch.
However, the songs mostly were well delivered opening night Wednesday that it made for an enjoyable night of song. There were a few numbers – like “Russian Lullaby” sung by Kira Lace Hawkins – that I would have personally prefered to hear more of, but sometimes that’s the way a revue goes. You don’t always get the whole pie, just a slice. Hawkins on a ballad like “Russian Lullaby” though is golden.
As for a plot, well, it’s a revue remember. There’s not so much a plot as a thread that carries the audience from song to song. That throughline is the piano. From Alexander’s Music Shop in 1910, to a Midwestern summer stock theater in the late 1950s (aka the Wagon Wheel), the piano is always there front and center. Regardless of what’s happening in the world around it, like the Depression or World War II, the piano is there.
There are seven scenes in Act I, and four more in Act II. Each scene is set around a different time period, but the locations almost could be anywhere.
Each of the six actors in this musical production have character names, but the characters don’t change or develop over the 40-something year span. The show isn’t about them anyway, it’s about Berlin and his music.
The first song of the show is “Let Me Sing and I’m Happy”, sung by Eileen (Hillary Smith), Alex (David Schlumpf) and Jim (Dan Smith). Eventually the other characters join them on stage, including Ginger (Jennifer Dow), Sadie (Hawkins) and George (Stephen Anthony).
I didn’t recognize any of the songs from the first three scenes. Some of them were good songs and well delivered, especially Anthony on “Pack Up Your Sins and Go to the Devil”, but I just didn’t recognize any of them.
Then Dan broke into “Blue Skies” in the fourth scene, set in the early 1930s and the Depression, and I could sing along with him in my head. Way before I ever knew that “Blue Skies” was a Berlin song, I was singing that song. I’m not even sure where or when I first heard it, but I’ve known it and sang it for as long as I can remember.
Hillary eventually joined Dan on that song.
Maybe it’s a Smith thing, but Dan and Hillary really act and sing well off one another. Their voices are very complimentary toward each other, which audiences will find throughout in “I Love A Piano” on “Blue Skies” as well as such numbers as “I Left My Heart at the Stage Door Canteen”, “Easter Parade” and especially “We’re a Couple of Swells”.
After “Blue Skies”, more songs I know are performed in this show, and knowing the music helps make a show more enjoyable. There was “Steppin’ Out With My Baby” by Dan and Anthony, “Top Hat, White Tie and Tails” sung by Schlumpf and “Puttin’ on the Ritz” by Dan again in scene four.
Each of the six performers for this show has a solo, but there are also a lot of duets and company songs.
One of my favorite solos of the night from Dow was her rendition of “Say It Isn’t So” in scene six. Set in a ballroom in the early 1940s, it’s a slower song, but I enjoyed her delivery of it.
She later has a fun time in Act II, scene I with “What Are We Gonna Do With All the Jeeps?”, then beautifully ends the show with her start of the song “I Love A Piano”.
During the “Jeeps” song, it was fun to watch Anthony’s facial expressions as Dow “undressed” behind a blanket as he and Dan held it up as a curtain for her. He added a little comedy to Dow’s sultry moment, and I thought that was a nice touch on his part.
Anthony, Dow and Schlumpf also do a really nice job on “Lazy” in Act II, Scene 2. When they break out the kazoos though, that was the chocolate frosting on the chocolate cake.
The song that really got everyone’s attention Wednesday night, however, was Hawkins delivery of “God Bless America”. As she started singing it, and an image of the Stars & Stripes waved on the screen, I spotted an older gentleman stand up. Then another. By the time all six of the actors were taking part in singing the song, the entire theater was standing up and displaying their patriotism.
The song was a conclusion to Act I, but also represented the conclusion to World War II in the “story” of this revue.
In my notes, I also wrote down how I felt that Hawkins could and should deliver her rendition of “God Bless America” at big events like the Super Bowl. It would go over very well.
One ballad that Hawkins got to sing from start to finish, I believe, and I was so glad that she got to was “Suppertime”. As performed for this show, her character’s significant other wasn’t going to return home from the war. Hawkins’ performance on “Suppertime” was like butter. So well done, so perfect.
Anthony, Schlumpf and Dan have a good trio going on “How Deep Is the Ocean” as their characters realize they are being drafted for the war. Anthony beautifully starts out the song well, and Schlumpf and Dan expertly add back up. I especially then liked how at moments Anthony gets a little softer on the song. Nice touch.
Hillary’s best solo comes with “What’ll I Do?” It’s during a time when her character is dealing with her man having gone off to war. Her character breaks into tears, and Hillary made me believe she was really upset about it. The song and that moment were really hers and she owned it.
Act II, Scene 3 is all about Berlin’s music from “Annie Get Your Gun”. The last time I could find that Wagon Wheel Theatre did that musical was in 2005 with Carrie McNulty in the lead. I remembered the 2005 show as they sang “There’s No Business Like Show Business” and “Anything You Can Do” last night.
“Anything You Can Do” was probably the most fun song of “I Love a Piano”, especially when Dow’s, Hawkins’ and Hillary’s characters were trying to outdo each other. Then when Hawkins kept that note for forever – impressive! Of course, the song started out well anyway with Dow singing it with Anthony because those two also make a fine singing duo.[[In-content Ad]]There’s a seventh but uncredited performer in the program in this show. Derek Grose pops in here and there to be a cop, a director and other little bits, but his non-speaking moments support the overall show and I thought I’d give him a little credit where it’s due.
Overall, WWT Artistic Director Scott Michaels did a fine job with this show. I liked how he incorporated things like the imagery on the screens above the stage, the piano, etc. Some moments were pure slapstick, while others tugged a bit at the heartstrings.
My rating of the show (out of four): 3.25.
Tickets are on sale now and range from $12 to $31. For more information or to purchase tickets online, visit www.wagonwheeltheatre.org
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