MAY 5, 1995 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE 23
EVENINGS OUT
A celebration of romance from a gay male perspective
Jerry's Boys
North Coast Men's Chorus
Reviewed by Michael Miller
The North Coast Men's Chorus presented their spring concert on Friday, April 21 at the Lakewood High School Tryout Theater. The show, titled "Jerry's Boys," featured the music of Broadway composer Jerry Herman.
"Jerry's Boys" was a celebration of romantic life from a gay male perspective. Others, who may lean more toward political correctness than I, might say the show was riddled with stereotypes and cliché. I wouldn't entirely disagree with that. However, I perceive the songs were presented through characterizations that showed gay men as we really behave in the clubs and among our friends, especially if we think somebody is watching.
In that vein, I don't think any sort of political or social consciousness-raising was intended. I'd be hard pressed to believe the Chorus would expect any audience member to leave the venue any more in doubt of his or her sexual identity than when he or she arrived. The singers presented the songs that were not necessarily romantic ballads in straightforward fashion. The love songs just happened to be sung by men to men, without even so much as the gratuitous changing of pronouns, and everybody was who he needed to be as he performed.
The orchestra was seated within three minutes of curtain time. The three members were dressed in nondescript black jeans and mock turtlenecks. Music Director Timothy Robson played a computer synthesizer, Bruce Shewitz accompanied on upright acoustic piano, and Greg Cross played drums.
The chorus became the rainbow, each member costumed in black tuxes and white shirts accented by festive but tasteful cummerbunds
and bow ties. They filed in from stage right and left, filled the stage and spilled into the front of the house in formation to sing the opening medley: selections from Hello, Dolly; Mame; Milk and Honey; La Cage aux Folles; Mack and Mabel; A Day in Hollywood; and The Grand Tour. As a slide of the program cover was projected on the upstage wall, a simple tribute was spoken on behalf of Herman's music, including the sentiment that his compositions work on their own merits, outside the context in which they were written. True.
On the whole, "Jerry's Boys" was a success. I'd venture to say the Chorus met its objective, based on the general motif and flow of the program and my observation that nothing in terms of selections, choreography, or shtick looked like it didn't belong.
Simple but effective touches kept the production light and fun, and appreciated by the audience. The chorus' eye contact with the audience in the opening number was perfect. From the outset, the ensemble razed the wall presumed to exist between stage and house, inviting the audience to share the evening with them. Jerry Zak's donning of a red scarf and feather fan in one number, and his semi-dragged take on Vera Charles for "The Man in the Moon" (Mame) fit well. The breathtaking and breathlessly reeled-offlist of actresses that had played Dolly Levi, at the end of the Hello, Dolly tribute was clever. Roger Durbin's tapdance during "Tap Your Troubles Away" (Mack and Mabel) was a well-done, welcome surprise. The ensemble graciously gave Durbin focus, which enhanced an already excellent number.
"Mazel Tov" (Milk and Honey) included a spirited and delightful folk dance. Segment introductions and dramatic monologues were repeated throughout the show with and without accompanying slide projections and provided nice breaks and segues. Here was a nice
alternative to sliding through the repertoire from song to song. Two of the more interesting and informative spoken-word segments were the introductions to Milk and Honey and La Cage aux Folles. The former delineated the premise of middle-aged Americans touring Israel and Herman's use of Israeli, MiddleEastern, and Ukranian influences in the score. The latter, of course, made reference to the score being composed around the time of the Stonewall era.
Three particular numbers were highlights of the production, and any one of them was worth the price of admission. Act II, in which each number was staged almost as a minidrama, offered “Take it All Off” (Jerry's Girls): the Coastliners (members of the Chorus with separate directorship, accompaniment, and billing in the program) rollicked through an outrageous pseudo-strip burlesque. Exposed down to droolworthy pectoral-printed T-shirts, they convinced Jerry Zak, as the drunken owner of La Cage, to "put it back on."
"Wherever He Ain't," (Mack and Mabel) was sung as a lampoon-anthem to Newt Gingrich, with mask-on-a-stick and raucous choreography. My favorite was the moving and intricately harmonious downtempo “I Am What I Am" (La Cage aux Folles), which the ensemble sang as they entered through the house, to the stage. The song itself isn't one of my favorites, but the Chorus's arrangement and presentation made it as m ingful and poignant as I've heard it, in all its forms. One last note of direct praise, before moving on to the "constructive" comments: Robert Phillips' tenor solos rang out as smooth and clear as mountain stream ice in a beer commercial. Few singers know technique well enough to apply it without sounding studied, as Phillips does. Unfortunately, projection was a problem in his first solo, but that's a general note that bears further discussion later.
In my experience as a student, performer, and ever-critical auditor-viewer, productions in which nothing doesn't fit are a rare and cherished find. Re-read it, kids: it doesn't mean "Jerry's Boys" worked 100 percent. Again, it means nothing was out of place in the production and I probably would have replaced some routines with others. But the pieces that made the revue less than it could have and should have been, for the talent involved, are repairable with focus and attention.
The overtures for both acts were prerecorded, which I found jarring. The orchestra was sufficiently talented that they should have presented live overtures. I don't know if a mix was dubbed off cast recordings or if the the orchestra needed to pre-record because the arrangements were too complicated to play live and they couldn't succeed with only three members, but, on the surface, recorded overtures were inadequate and out of place. Also, from my seat in second row center, the sound from the speaker directly over the center of the stage was a little sharp and the bass could have been more balanced. The arrangement and orchestration were well done, but the overture, on the whole, was a bit lengthy. By the fourth movement, the white spotlight shining on the red-curtained bare stage became glaring and should have been varied with the gels or movement or something to set ambi-
ance.
The North Coast Men's Chorus' collective heart is in the right place. If the company continues at the level they're on, they'll remain the musical equivalent of a pretty good community theatre troupe, where the material is acceptable and entertaining as it is happening. If they tighten and polish, though, they can shine beside the opera, the ballet and Cleveland Public Theatre.
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