Broadway in Burbank Review

Bright Eyes Productions presented Broadway In Burbank last night at the Colony. I was actually running late getting into the Valley and Waze took me on a route I had never experienced before (using Outpost to get to Mullholland taking me down to Cahuenga).  Pretty nifty!  Despite the slow polks in front of me on the short-cut, I nabbed a princess parking spot right across from the theatre and arrived after 8:05 PM only to realize that no one was in any rush to get started. So, I immediately slowed down, got my bearings, and relaxed in the stadium-style 300-seat or so theatre. The air-conditioning was quite a lovely change from the 82-degree Burbank evening. Richard Kilroy directed the benefit concert, with musical accompaniment by Ron Snyder and Dave Bass. Greg Stickroth and Diane Pancel led this musical revue as two characters in a rather elaborate office setting self-referentially brainstorming ideas for a fundraiser. The premise is pretty light-weight and negligible. Singers appear from the wings and each present a pair of solos to document the progress, cobbling together an eclectic mix of songs. David Johnson first comes on to sing Funny Girl's "Dont Rain on My Parade"unannounced. Having a momentary lapse, the pianist fills his in-character request for the first couple of words to Pal Joey's "If I Could Write a Book," and he's off and running.  Pancel then gives a little Rodgers & Hart "Manhattan."

Second to take the stage is Helene McCardle, who conspicuously saunters in with her strawberry blonde asymmetrical cut to give her rendition of "Mack the Knife" in German. In English, she sang Jacques Brel's "Amsterdam," made popular by David Bowie. After McCardle, the towering Kathleen Ingle soaked up the spotlight to belt out the title song of Light in the Piazza. She cut loose with Chicago's "When You're Good to Mama," engaging in a few barely naughty thrusts and gestures to titillate the older-skewing crowd. Next was Larry Davis, whose jazzy "Get Me to the Church on Time" from My Fair Lady was almost as cool as the syncopated and elongated phrasing he offered on "Anything Goes." Jessica Buda then solemnly emerged with the somber "Millworker" from Working and soaks her heart into Pippin's "Kind of Woman." Before she exits, she engages in a duet with Stickroth from Follies. He plays a character who claims to lack singing talent, which he quickly disproves with "Too Many Mornings." Pat Whiteman whimsically whisks the audience away with "I'd Rather Be Sailing" from A New Brain and then sings a song about nerves and jitters, which I was unfamiliar with.

During intermission, some of the actors mingled with the audience members munching on plates of pretzels and cheese squares. I checked out the endless walls of photos from past productions dating all the way back to the 1970s. In Act II, Stickroth gets a little more comfortable and delightfully droll. His speaking voice is monotone and benefits from an off-handed tone. His character, as well as Pancel, are late for some appointment and they need money fast. Kurt Weill gets another shout out with "Speak Low" from Bill Hemmer, whose powerful vocals effortlessly segue into a spunky "Before the Parade Passes By" from Hello, Dolly! Pancel finally gets her moment to shine with an admirable crack at "Don't Cry For Me Argentina," from, of course, Evita. Stickroth fits in his own solo with the moving A Little Night Music's "Send in the Clowns." He joins Pancel in an electric "Music of the Night" from The Phantom of the Opera. The entire cast joins the duo to close out the show with A Chorus Line's "What I Did for Love."  Absent from the program was Ruby Lewis.