I think the Encores! production of ON THE TOWN is going to be a great production, and i think it's overall better than the last revival. Warren Carlisle's choreography has wonderful momentsand I think it's great that they've tried to reproduce as much of the Robbins original as possible. The band is really good, led by the talented and wonderful Todd Ellison. I didn't think anyone could be funnier than Mary Testa as Madam Maude ("sex and art don't mix; if they did, I'd have gone straight to the top") Dilly, but Andrea Martin is truly a hoot in the role. Afterwards, I stopped backstage to see Todd, and a couple of players I'm fond of, Bob Zubrycki, Randy Andos, and Suzanne Ornstein. Bob and Randy were on many of my recordings for BK. My only quibble was why did the great Leslie Kritzer sing "tayble d'hote" instead of "tahble d'hote" in "I Can Cook Too"? I laughed a lot and then, suddenly in Act Two, at the Coney Island subway stop around 4 am, according to the libretto, four of the principals sang "Some Other Time" and I burst into tears and wept through the rest of the production. It was amazing how such a silly show about sailors on leave floats on such a serious foundation.
During the break I saw my friends Karen Ziemba, Lewis Stadlen, David Ives, Peter Felcher of the Cole Porter trust, and Anne Kaufman Schneider, George S's daughter. Afterwards, i walked uptown with Karen Ziemba and her husband. She's about to head off to play the Stockard Channing role in SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION.
