White Plains CitizeNetReporter - Wave your Flags for A Grand Old Cohan! GEORGE M Still Owns Broadway at WBT.

WPCNR Theatrical Review by John F. Bailey. June 9, 2012: Westchester’s living “Hall of Fame” of musical theatre, Westchester Broadway Theatre staged a wallapaloosa revival of the 1968 Tony Winner, George M last night in a solid, star-spangled Independence Day treat for the entire family. The Man Who Owns Broadway: John Scherer as the man who created musical theatre, George M. Cohan Photos Courtesy, Westchester Broadway Theatre by John Vechiola GM is as big, brash and bold as George M. Cohan himself. This express of a musical takes you from vaudeville to modern Broadway Theatre is stopping in Elmsford only to July 1, so get your ducats now at (914) 592-2222 or go to www.broadwaytheatre.org. You have no time to waste. Call now! WBT has even brought back Mr. Cohan himself – the flying footed, hard- tapping, indefatigable, belting, brash, confident, swaggering, charismatic John Scherer who is George M himself. He has the persuasive chatter of the legendary showman: “It’s all true, but it’s going to be,” he tells his landlady Mrs. Grimaldi (when he and his family are struggling to pay the rent). He's the bluster, the swagger, the spirit, the hope of America itself. Mr. Scherer belts all the Cohan classics: from the signature Give My Regards to Broadway (above) when George M is heading to England to bet his all on his first real musical: Little Johnny Jones, to his patriotic spectaculars that never fail to lift the heaviest heart: You’re a Grand Old Flag, Over There, Yankee Doodle Dandy (composed after his breakup with his first wife), and his wonderful Irish duet with Jim Walton (who plays George’s father) in a mock fisticuffs number, Harrigan -- the best I've seen staged of that song. Scherer brings the audience to a hush in the dramatic scene in Act II when, coaxed to come back to the stage late in life, he realizes the musical theatre he invented has changed.This is an aching, poignant moment. His moves of realization are just right, the audience feels his anguish as they feel his joy. Not many musical leading men can turn that believable schmaltz on…but he can. And the audience still goes home happy.

This musical takes you from Vaudeville to the Broadway musicals of the 20s and 30s which followed the format George M. Cohan invented. The choreography of Jonathan Stahl is consistently entertaining sold by the hardest- tapping, furiously footing stylish dance team in months (the raised stage platform which rises from the stage was trembling during the Grand Old Flag above) The lighting by the magician, Andrew Gmoser, showed so many variations on red. The scene change from Lyric Theatre to Old Glory waving was spectacular, stunning the Opening Night crowd who were just awed. The scenic device of using different prosceniums of different theatres as Mr. Cohan and the three other members of the Cohan family travel from town to town, is a stroke of genius in design from setman John Carrell. The costumes-- evoking the glamour, the parasols, the waist coats, the tuxedoa, the "class" of the period-- by Leon Dobkowski--simply gorgeous! The Cohans auditioning in Act One before a producer without vision : Jim Walton as father Jerry, Melodie Wolford as Nellie Cohan, John Scherer as George M. and the belter, Amanda Trusty as sister Josie In Act One, Jerry Cohan, is seen performing a vaudeville act in Providence from the back of the stage looking out at the imaginary audience. Nine yearold Victoria Dennis of Mt. Kisco runs on stage to tell him his son, George is being born. Thoughout the show the different stages are as much of a star as this dream team giving this show their all. You see performances from the side, from the front, each theatre stage using the the rotating proscenium stage. Last night's GM at WBT is a tour de force of how theatre makes “make-believe" real. Mr. Scherer is backed with another WBT galaxy of complimentary actors who perform many swing roles as GEORGE M creates the show biz of the past ANNIE-ESQUE! Katherine Heaton(right) playing the actress Fay Templeton, is with scene stealer Gabriella Palminteri of Bedford. Little Ms. Palminteri, daughter of actor Chaz Palminteri played the role on the performance WPCNR saw and was delightfully precocious, poised and perky, showing excellent comic timing in her appearance in Act I telling George M's father during a performance of George M's birth, while forthrightly singing Mary's a Grand Old Name to demonstrate to Ms. Templeton how good the song was. Very "Annie-esque!" Katherine Heaton as Templeton radiates turn of the century pulchritude in a spectacular emerald green dress lit immaculately in enchanting emerald hue. agrees to play in George M’s and Sam Harris's first production when she sings Mary’s a Grand Old Name in Act Two. The audience is so moved by Ms. Heaton's rich colorature voice and haunting treatment of this marvelous ballad. She thrilled the audience, producing sentiment and wonder -- easily the most striking solo performance in the show. What a voice Ms. Heaton has! The entire scene in Harris’s offices is a comic delight to start the second act as George M fast-talks and sells his musical Forty-five Minutes from Broadway to backers and lures Ms. Templeton. Gary Lynch as Sam Harris is a game comic foil to Mr. Scherer’s bombast in this Act II opener. Scherer’s rapport with father, Jerry, played by Jim Walton is very believable. Scherer and the three other dancing Cohans, Nellie (Melodie Wolford) and sister Josie (Laura Schutter) makes an attractive family. The scene where George M is celebrating Opening night at Rector’s Restaurant where they sing All Our Friends is particularly winning to the audience. In it George M bequeaths half his creative works to his father. Well-played. Act One shows how Cohan fights through rejection and continues to believe in his talent, defending his creations, being loyal to his family, and his lesser-known songs acquaint us with the show biz life. From the opening notes of You're a Grand Old Flag starting the show, the stage band of Leo Carusone and his sidemen (Patrick Kelly, keyboards; Ken Ross, percussion; Ron Kozak,reeds; Ron Raffio,Bass; Dave Olson, trumpet) deliver a bed that is supportive, just right, and makes the "grand old bigger-than-America songs" glitter and gleam beneath the cast's fill-the-theatre voices. The glamorous scene, The Man Who Owns Broadway is distinguished by various marquees of the theatres Cohan owned, The Lyric and The Savoy, is played so well by the irrepressible Mr. Scherer, as he refuses to accept unions, and decides to retire. The company sings about The Man Who Owns Broadway. Mr. Scherer owns this show. This loving, hard-working, fun-loving revival shows why Cohan is one of a kind. George M. Cohan still can give you more fun and good feelings about your country and yourself to this day -- 120 years after the songs in this show were written. They couldn't stop clapping.

Note: In the first edition of this review, the little actress playing the Little Girl was misidentified in the photo caption. The child actress playing in this performance was Gabrielle Palminteri. WPCNR apologizes for the error, and was solely responsible for the mistake.


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