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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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WPCNR DUMP NEWS. By John F. Bailey. June 4, 2012:

 

A spokesperson for the New  York State Department of Conservation confirmed to WPCNR this week  the cost of  sealing and closing the Tri Chloral Etylene-contaminated Gedney Landfill is going at least $2 million more beyond than the  $8 Million to $10 Million price  originally told the Common Council, which has yet to authorize financing for the entire clean-up.

 

Wendy Rosenback, spokesperson for the NYDEC told WPCNR that Martin Brand, Program Director of the Division of Materials Management for the DEC estimates the cleanup, scheduled to begin in July, will cost the city $10 to $12 Million.

 

WPCNR has been told by sources that the Common Council has been informed privately in a non-public meeting  within the last three weeks with the city Department of Public Works the cleanup could cost as much as $14 Million and a request to float more in bonds for the additional financing was met with dismay to say the least. Whether the figure is  as high as $14 Million has not been confirmed by any member of the Common Council, but the DEC today confirmed it is going to soar higher than the $8 to $10 Million the Department of Public Works originally estimated.

 

When WPCNR contacted Common Council members to see if the $14 Million figure had been related to them, Councilmen David Buchwald, Dennis Krolian, and John Martin all said the cleanup project was still in the bid process and they had not heard that price from the Department of Public Works.  Councilwoman Beth Smayda said she did not recall a meeting on that topic and Councilwoman Milagros Lecuona wrote  WPCNR she was not at any such meeting. Councilman Benjamin Boykin did not respond.

 

WPCNR called Joseph Nicoletti, Commissioner of Public Works and left a message  and asked him if the DEC’s Brand was correct, and if the $14 Million figure had been disclosed to the Council or was closer to $12 Million. Mr. Nicoletti so far has not responded.

 

The  DEC and the City Department of Public Works have been formulating a plan for remediation, sealing and closure of the dump since 2005 when the DEC informed the city it has to deal with the TCE-contamination that had been seeping into the Mamaroneck River estuary flowing through the dump. The city had previously ignored the TCE-contamination since 1976, which was left over from when a dry cleaning establishment was located adjacent to the dump. As part of the process he city has also been directed by the DEC to resod the Our Lady of Sorrows Softball Field adjacent the dump