“Lullaby of Broadway,” “Tip Toe Through the Tulips,” “I Only Have Eyes For You,” “We’re in the Money,” “Lulu’s Back in Town,” “September in the Rain,” and “42nd Street.” These are just a few of the iconic songs with lyrics by Al Dubin, and most of the music by Harry Warren. They were written for both theatre and film and occupy a permanent place in the “Great American Songbook.”
This prolific team worked with Busby Berkeley, well played by Robert Pieranunzi, at Warner Bros. studios. Their joint collaboration changed the face of musical films. Their combined effort on “42nd” Street” garnered them Academy Award consideration for Best Film, which actually went to “Cavalcade” and was presented at the 6th Academy Awards ceremony in March 1934.
The story of a very troubled genius, brought to life by Jared Gertner, is told through “I Only Have Eyes For You,” and is currently on stage at the Montalban Theatre.
Despite a valiant effort, this production is uneven so here’s the good news first: Producer Corky Hale has assembled one of the best technical teams in Los Angeles theatre who succeeded in a creating a look worthy of a Broadway stage. That extraordinary team consists of John Iacovelli’s set design, Debra McGuire’s period costume design, Brandon Baruch’s lighting design, and the always-reliable Cricket Myers’ sound design.
The poorly written book by Jerry Leichtling and Arlene Sarner tells the story of a conflicted Dubin who struggled with alcoholism, gambling, and womanizing, all of which impacted on both his personal and professional lives. The fact that he achieved such great success, despite his addictions, is miraculous. Gertner as Dubin, tries to mine the layers and layers of this complicated man, but succeeds more on the musical aspects than the non-musical scenes.
The romantic story that plays out over decades is between Dubin and the love of his life Helen, who he marries early in his career. A talented Nikki Bohne as his wife soars in the musical numbers, but not so much in the non-musical narrative. Their duets were sweet but aging her with a gray wig in the second act was well, a bit hokey, since her husband stays forever young. As he becomes more and more successful in his career, this incredible lyricist becomes drunker and drunker and less reliable, causing a riff between he and Warren, well played by Constantine Rousouli. Eventually, Warren ends their partnership and begins writing with Johnny Mercer. The narrative takes us through Dubin’s self-destructive behavior with some of the musical numbers reflecting both his musical brilliance as well as particular moments in his life that illustrate the unraveling of a tormented soul.
With musical direction by Gerald Sternbach, there are fun production numbers with “famous” singers including “About a Quarter to Nine,” sung by Justin Michael Wilcox as Al Jolson with Kayla Parker as Ruby Keeler. Wilcox’s Jolson is a self-centered egocentric man always seeking the spotlight, contrasted by a very sweet, understanding Keeler. Renee Marino as Carmen Miranda sings a rousing “South American Way.” And yes. She wears the bowl of fruit on her head and is surrounded by young, beautiful, dancing men. A major highlight of the show is Elijah Rock as Cab Calloway who, with two gorgeous ladies at his feet, tears up the stage as he gives a show-stopping rendition of “Lulu’s Back in Town.” Valerie Perri as Minna sings a gentle interpretation of “September in the Rain.” Near the end of Act II, Dubin has hit bottom and sings “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” but with a Hollywood happy ending, reprises the love between he and Helen with “I Only Have Eyes for You.” The book stops at this particular point as in real life, Dubin did not enjoy a happy ending at all.
The production is directed and choreographed by Kay Cole, who has a long list of credits and perhaps therein lies the rub, as we do not see one original piece of movement in this production. What we do see are very familiar dance sequences, which are exquisitely executed. The most outstanding numbers are a tap dance by the ensemble and the visually stunning dance sequence from “42nd Street.” The dancers are seated in a long row of chairs and wearing brightly colored red costumes, execute the movements in sharp precision. So the question is this: Was Miss Cole creating new movements or was she trying to recreate the movements germane to dance routines of that particular era, in which case not having anything original would be appropriate. On the other hand, if she was creating “new” movement from scratch, then we would have to say what we saw, although well executed, was unoriginal and has been seen throughout the years on many Broadway musical stages.
It’s easy to play Monday-morning quarterback, but if the story was narrated, instead of having dialogue scenes between the actors, which was the poorest part of the evening, the musical numbers would stand on their own, and not be diminished by a faulty book resulting in a non-connected story line and stilted acting. All that said however, if you want to see a Broadway-caliber production, even with all the faults inherent in the book, you will leave the theatre dazzled by the wonderful sets and definitely humming the score.
“I Only Have Eyes for You –
The Life and Lyrics of Al Dubin,”
Montalban Theater
1615 Vine St. Hollywood, 90028
Wednesdays through Fridays: 8pm
Saturdays: 2 & 8pm, Sundays: 3pm
Closing: June 12, 2016
Tickets: $40-$80
Reservations: 323.461.6999
or www.flavorus.com
Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes.
