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| Larry Kert, Gene Nelson, Donna McKechnie. |
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| Robert Guillaume,Karen Morrow, Gene Nelson, Larry Kert, Donna McKechnie, Gail Nelson. |
A first-rate company of 10 well-known principals and a singing and
dancing ensemble of nine, all exuding star quality, presented this unoriginal
compilation of popular standards dating from the turn of the 20th century to
the current day. Among the most impressive names were Robert Guillaume, Larry
Kert, Will Donna McKechnie, Karen Morrow, Gene Nelson, Arnold Soboloff, and
Russ Thacker.
Act one covered 1895-1941, while act two offered 1941-1974. To
give the program cohesiveness songwriter Alan Jay Lerner (My Fair Lady) provided a rhymed narrative that gave background
information on the musical numbers. “These are sometimes mildly witty,” judged
Brendan Gill, “but have a fatal taint of undergraduate self-congratulation
about them.” “Where they were not trivial,” commented Clive Barnes, “”they were
banal, and I suppose the vice was versa.”
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| Renee Baughman, Denise Mauthe, Gene Nelson, Trish Garland, Freda Soiffer, Yolanda Raven. |
Barely any critics appreciated this historical cavalcade—a sort of
proto-juke box musical—in which “Tedium was continually threatening to run
riot,” as Barnes put it. The show was compared to a cheap, old-fashioned TV
special, and there were nasty things said about the choreography and staging.
The performers, dressed in black and white, sang and danced downstage (the
orchestra was upstage behind a scrim), and the effect, to Barnes, was like a
televised “salute-program.” There was dissatisfaction with what Walter Kerr
called “obvious” selections, and those that were hoked up for theatrical
interest.
