Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Theater Review: Nice Work if You Can Get It

Nice Work Reviewing Shows Like Nice Work if You Can Get It
By Lauren Yarger
Gershwin tunes, Matthew Broderick and book writer Joe DiPietro. Nice! Add in humorous performances by Estelle Parsons, Judy Kaye, Michael McGrath and Jennifer Laura Thompson. Nicer! End of review.

Seriously, there's much more to like than not in Broadway's light-hearted, toe-tapping musical Nice Work if Your Can Get It. It's silly funny with a role that almost seems tailor-written for Broderick's nerdy, clueless characterization and well, any show that has "But Not for Me" in the list of songs is OK in my book.

There is an actual story here and the Gershwin songs seem to be selected to help tell it, rather than what we see in "jukebox" musicals, where a number of songs are selected, then some ridiculous story is invented to connect them. That's because DiPietro (Memphis, The Toxic Avenger, I Love You, You're Perfect. Now Change) is the writer here. I am a big fan and have been keeping an eye on him as one of the more promising book writers on Broadway for a number of years. He's funny and skilled at crafting a cohesive book. This show runs a little long (at two hours and 40 minutes) and some of the Gershwin songs selected are a little more obscure but the lyrics seemed to fit perfectly into the story. It's Gershwin. I'll listen -- though I couldn't help but wish the orchestra under the musical direction of David Chase (who provides arrangements) was even larger.

In a send up of screwball comedies and dance films of an age gone by,  the story here follows playboy Jimmy Winter (Broderick), taking a fourth wife, modern -- and I use the term loosely -- dancer Eileen Evergreen (Thompson) in the hopes that his formidable mother, Millicent (Parsons), will finally approve and allow him to take over the family business, though he isn't sure exactly what the family does to earn its vast fortune.

Outside a speakeasy, Jimmy meets up with bootlegger Billie Bendix (Kelli O'Hara) and her two cohorts, Duke Mahoney and Cookie McGee (Chris Sullivan and Michael McGrath). The gang decides Jimmy's mother's unused beach house mansion will be the perfect place to store their illegal booze, but when Jimmy, Eileen and others arrive unexpectedly, they are forced to change plans with Cookie posing as the butler and Duke as the cook. When sparks fly between Jimmy and Billie, things get even more complicated. (Sparks didn't fly for me about O'Hara's performance. I'm guessing she was under the weather the day I saw this show, since I know what she can do. I'll give her a pass.) The large ensemble cast is strong.

McGrath and Kaye have some great comic bits -- don't miss Kaye as the righteous, prohibitionist Duchess Estonia Dulworth who gets a little tipsy at dinner -- but this show is just nice to look at too. Besides Derek McLane's opulent sets, which seem to have a cartoonish quality that compliments the mood of poking fun at depression-era musicals without detracting from it, there are lovely period costumes by Martin Pakledinaz (I want them all in my closet) and really terrific stage direction and choreography by Kathleen Marshall (who keeps delivering great old-fashioned, bog-dance musicals to Broadway like Anything Goes and Wonderful Town).

Broderick and O'Hara dance up a storm and for "S Wonderful," the choreography is absolutely furniture and gravity-defying. In other numbers, chorus girls pop out of a bathtub, chorus boys pop out of the wood work and even Thompson's horrible "modern dance" steps are fun to watch. There's a brain-tilting image of O'Hara singing "Someone to Watch over Me" while cocking a rifle -- the audience couldn't stop laughing.

It's easy on the eyes and easy on the ears. Its S Wonderful, and for me, this fun, smile-inducing romp turned out to be the last Broadway show to review for the season. Nice work if you can get it.

Nice work if You Can Get It runs at the Imperial Theatre, 249 West 45th St., NYC. Tickets: 212-239-6200; 800-432-7250.

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Gracewell Prodiuctions

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Our reviews are professional reviews written without a religious bias. At the end of them, you can find a listing of language, content or theological issues that Christians might want to know about when deciding which shows to see.

** Mature indicates that the show has posted an advisory because of content. Usually this means I would recommend no one under the age of 16 attend.

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

My Bio

Lauren Yarger has written, directed and produced numerous shows and special events for both secular and Christian audiences. She co-wrote a Christian musical version of “A Christmas Carol” which played to sold-out audiences of over 3,000 in Vermont and was awarded the Vermont Bessie (theater and film awards) for “People’s Choice for Theatre.” She also has written two other dinner theaters, sketches for church services and devotions for Christian artists. Her play concept, "From Reel to Real: The Jennifer O'Neill Story" was presented as part of the League of professional Theatre Women's Julia's reading Room Series in New York. Shifting from reviewing to producing, Yarger owns Gracewell Productions, which produced the Table Reading Series at the Palace Theater in Waterbury, CT. She trained for three years in the Broadway League’s Producer Development Program, completed the Commercial Theater Institute's Producing Intensive and other training and produced a one-woman musical about Mary Magdalene that toured nationally and closed with an off-Broadway run. She was a Fellow at the National Critics Institute at the O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT. She wrote reviews of Broadway and Off-Broadway theater (the only ones you can find in the US with an added Christian perspective) at http://reflectionsinthelight.blogspot.com/.

She is editor of The Connecticut Arts Connection (http://ctarts.blogspot.com), an award-winning website featuring theater and arts news for the state. She was a contributing editor for BroadwayWorld.com. She previously served as theater reviewer for the Manchester Journal-Inquirer, Connecticut theater editor for CurtainUp.com and as Connecticut and New York reviewer for American Theater Web.

She is a Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter of the League of Professional Theatre Women. She is a former vice president and voting member of The Drama Desk.

She is a freelance writer and playwright (member Dramatists Guild of America). She is a member if the The Outer Critics Circle (producer of the annual awards ceremony) and a member of The League of Professional Theatre Women, serving as Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter. Yarger was a book reviewer for Publishers Weekly A former newspaper editor and graduate of the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, Yarger also worked in arts management for the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and served for nine years as the Executive Director of Masterwork Productions, Inc. She lives with her husband in West Granby, CT. They have two adult children.

Copyright

All material is copyright 2008- 2024 by Lauren Yarger. Reviews and articles may not be reprinted without permission. Contact reflectionsinthelight@gmail.com

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Key to Content Notes:

God's name taken in vain -- means God or Jesus is used in dialogue without speaking directly to or about them.

Language -- means some curse words are used. "Minor" usually means the words are not too strong or that it only occurs once or twice throughout the show.

Strong Language -- means some of the more heavy duty curse words are used.

Nudity -- means a man or woman's backside, a man's lower front or a woman's front are revealed.

Scantily clad -- means actors' private areas are technically covered, but I can see a lot of them.

Sexual Language -- means the dialogue contains sexually explicit language but there's no action.

Sexual Activity -- means a man and woman are performing sexual acts.

Adultery -- Means a married man or woman is involved sexually with someone besides their spouse. If this is depicted with sexual acts on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Sex Outside of Marriage -- means a man and woman are involved sexually without being married. If this is depicted sexually on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Homosexuality -- means this is in the show, but not physically depicted.

Homosexual activity -- means two persons of the same sex are embracing/kissing. If they do more than that, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Cross Dresser -- Means someone is dressing as the opposite sex. If they do more than that on stage the listing would include the corresponding "sexual activity" and/or "homosexual activity" as well.

Cross Gender -- A man is playing a female part or a woman is playing a man's part.

Suggestive Dancing -- means dancing contains sexually suggestive moves.

Derogatory (category added Fall 2012) Language or circumstances where women or people of a certain race are referred to or treated in a negative and demeaning manner.

Other content matters such as torture, suicide, or rape will be noted, with details revealed only as necessary in the review itself.

The term "throughout" added to any of the above means it happens many times throughout the show.

Reviewing Policy

I receive free seats to Broadway and Off-Broadway shows made available to all voting members of the Outer Critics Circle. Journalistically, I provide an unbiased review and am under no obligation to make positive statements. Sometimes shows do not make tickets available to reviewers. If these are shows my readers want to know about I will purchase a ticket. If a personal friend is involved in a production, I'll let you know, but it won't influence a review. If I feel there is a conflict, I won't review their portion of the production.

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