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No, it is not Keely Smith and her ex portrayed, nor is it an Ike and Tina remake, although the James Hindman, Patrick Brady, Mark Waldrop trio of experts has somewhat followed the historical implications of unhappy duos lives together on stage. It is, however, a musical evening which, while somewhat "sappy," is engaging and certainly better theater fare then is normally seen around "mousetown."
Hats off to Roy Alan for producing it. There are some interesting touches in store, with the most memorable being grabbing someone from the audience to be part of a mythical Swell Shampoo hair product commercial that is part of the show, The audience is setup as attending a reunion show of the duo, replete with applause sign and on-the-air notice. As the performance unfolds, the growing, behind-the-scenes bickering, backed up by the talented Mollye Otis, Tony Hill, and Larry Byington team's music, captures you and brings you into every number. The Black Coffee tune, sung by Heather Alexander in a sultry vein, and Fever, by Jim Howard, are great numbers, among 22 renditions that make up the musical plot, and they are indeed show stoppers.
As Alan says, "You may wonder why more theaters don't do musicals?". Don't wonder a moment. Make a mad dash to get tickets for this one that really does deliver on a grand scale. To use a "Billboard" term-It's "Boffo".
Next up, "The Roar of the Greasepaint-The Smell of the Crowd" in March, 2004.
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