by David C. Nichols
The Bounty of Berlin
THE MUSICAL THEATRE WEST REVUE "I LOVE A PIANO" TRAVERSES SEVENDECADES AND MORE THAN 60 IRVING BERLIN SONGS.
When asked where Irving Berlin ranked in American music, fellow giant Jerome Kern famously said, "Irving Berlin has no place in American music. He is American music." The enduring truth of Kern's assessment underpins the showbiz panache of "I Love a Piano," presented by
Musical Theatre West. This delightful West Coast premiere of Ray Roderick and Michael Berkeley's salute to America's greatest tunesmith is as invigorating a song-catalog revue as any since "Ain't Misbehavin'."
A regional success, "I Love a Piano" refreshes its oft-abused genre. Instead of random numbers or chronicling Berlin's career, Roderick (who directs and choreographs the show) and Berkeley focus on the title instrument. Its passage across 70 years of national identity forms an overview through which 64 Berlin songs supply narrative. It proves a masterstroke. A brief overture from musical director John Glaudini and his superb orchestra accompanies three moving men, who deposit the piano. The six prototypal characters launch a present-day prologue that seamlessly segues to Alexander's Music Shop in the early 1900s. From here, "Piano" takes flight and rarely comes down thereafter. This stems from Berlin's matchless output and the six sublime performers who send the surefire material straight to our solar plexus. Although Dan Pacheco could use seasoning, his boyish bravado suits juvenile Jim, and Jill Townsend is exemplary as ingenue Eileen. Stephen Breithaupt's animated Alex meets his match in the marvelous Julie Dixon Jackson, who as Sadie invisibly flips from screwball to soulful. As George, Kevin Earley has never been better, and Kathi Gillmore, her mercurial Ginger both droll and vulnerable, is a discovery. Roderick's inventive staging trumps theme-park contours with style and heart. Designs are plush, especially Todd K. Proto's kaleidoscopic costumes and Debra Garcia Lockwood's lighting, and there are too many witty moments to recount beyond three examples. The first is the Act 1 ending, after draft letters intrude on a dancing medley and move us into Berlin's World War II output. This builds to a touching "White Christmas," then "God Bless America," as Pacheco and Townsend simulate the famous Life cover embrace to heart-stopping effect. The second is the hysterical backstage sequence in Act 2. This peaks with Breithaupt and Jackson belting out "You're Just in Love," Earley and Gillmore tearing into "An Old Fashioned Wedding" and then both songs at once, which rocks the house. Finally, there is the finale, everyone in modern cocktail garb and the title song bringing it home. I knew 15 minutes in that I
was thoroughly enjoying "I Love a Piano" - by the ending, I was in love. Blame it on Berlin, and Roderick and Berkeley, and everyone else connected with this enchanting entertainment.
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by Les Spindle
I Love a Piano
Last summer, producer-creator Tripp Hornick presented the West Coast premiere of The Melody Lingers On: The Songs of Irving Berlin at North Hollywood's El Portal Theatre. The far superior I Love a Piano, by Ray Roderick and Michael Berkeley, now in its West Coast premiere, is another Berlin greatesthits cavalcade. Less pretentious than the semibiographical Melody, Piano gets right down to business, offering 60-plus immortal Berlin tunes. Directorchoreographer Roderick, music director John Glaudini, and a dream cast of triple-threat performers parlay the glorious Berlin canon into a tuneful and exhilarating show.
The writers devised an effective linking device: The famous Berlin ditty
of the title is the springboard for a thin narrative about a piano that passes through several owners, beginning in the Tin Pan Alley era, circa 1911, when Berlin launched his career, and ending during a late-1950s summer-stock casting session for Berlin's 1946 musical, Annie Get Your Gun. This framing device allows for logical groupings of songs, such as the World War II segment spotlighting Berlin's patriotic "God Bless America" and his rousing military songs.
The ensemble is so evenly matched it's impossible to pick favorites.
It's immensely satisfying to see Kevin Earley spread his comedic wings. He lets his hair down to delightful effect here, making the most of Roderick's lighthearted concepts. And that magnificent baritone voice sounds resplendent when he lets
loose on "How Deep Is the Ocean?" and other soaring Berlin ballads. Julie Dixon Jackson is also in stellar form. She croons the heart-wrenching "Suppertime" with unbridled panache and shares a dazzling "You're Just in Love" with the versatile
and dynamic Stephen Breithaupt. Dan Pacheco exudes charm and pizzazz, as in the snappy dance number "Puttin' On the Ritz" and the delicious hobo routine "We're a Couple of Swells," sharing it with effervescent pixie Jill Townsend. The
captivating Kathi Gillmore is equally adept at belting out classic tunes and nailing choice comic bits. Design credits are likewise classy-the icing on the cake for this triumphant showcase-offering top-notch performers relishing some of the finest show music of all time.
by Allen Young
I Love a Piano
Ray Roderick may love a piano, but his heart truly belongs to Irving Berlin. Roderick directed and choreographed this tribute revue and co-wrote it with Michael Berkeley. His affection for Berlin's songs has resulted in an energetic, animated presentation of nearly 60 of Berlin's tunes, ranging from 1911's "Alexander's Ragtime Band" to selections from 1950's "Call Me Madam." The aim is not to re-create the atmosphere of each song but to give them new life for contemporary audiences. Thanks to his adroit direction of his nimble cast, Roderick largely succeeds. The strutting, cajoling, embracing songs are newly revealed to an audience that has somehow escaped the wizardry of Berlin's achievements over much of the 20th century. Both youth and middle age are represented in the casting. Michael E. Gold, at the upper end of the age spectrum, provides a firm anchor for the wide-ranging time frame. Alex Ryer illuminates the tragic "Supper Time" and proves that Berlin songs do not have to be sold -- just expressed personally. Later she comes on looking like a Kate Smith double to sing (inevitably) "God Bless America." Jeffrey Denman reaches a peak with perhaps the loveliest song heard all evening, "How Deep Is the Ocean." His warm baritone is enjoyable throughout the show, notably in "The Girl That I Marry." He also has a talent for comedy that is put to good use. Ellie Mooney, a tiny blonde with a big voice and singular comic abilities, teams with Shonn Wiley, the youngest of the group, on an "Easter Parade" that is a high point of the show. Stephanie Block delivers sweetly and is heard to amiable effect throughout. Chronology may not seem important to today's audiences, but the lack of it here deprives us of observing the composer's development. Another quibble: Too many songs are merely belted that might better be presented in less strenuous fashion, particularly in the first part of the show. Still, individually and in ensemble, the singers are fresh and appealing, and ultimately triumph, along with the show, over poor acoustics and a tinny sound system. A simple setting or arches and screens for appropriate projections seems just right.
by Killian Melloy
The careerspanning revue I Love A Piano brings together 64 Irving Berlin tunes in a twohour glance back at the events of the 20 th century or at least half of it, from the World War I era through the Roaring ’20s, to the Depression and World War II, and finally to the end of the 1950s. The songs tie together vignettes of the great events of the American Century by centering around a piano made in 1910; in music stores, music halls, and even down and out on the street, the piano (despite its one broken note) leads a triumphant career that finds six recurring characters crowding around for songs of
good cheer and sturdy resolution even in the darkest of times. Berlin’s songs, the fruit of his legendary seventy year songwriting career, are marked by upbeat tempos, cheerful melodies, and lyrics that flow and cascade with effortless charm. The six performers who bring the songs to life, and the ninemember orchestra backing them up with flawless performances (six of whom are locals), are also cheerful and energetic. The storyline is presented through dance as well as song, and celebrates styles and cultural influences from various eras as the show moves through the decades. One number pantomimes the silentmovie era with an homage to the physical comedy of Charlie Chaplin; other selections, such as "Everybody Step," "They Call It Dancing," and "Pack Up Your Sins and Go to the Devil" sees the cast doing 1920s dances like The Charleston. America’s spirit is challenged but unbroken by the hardships of the 1930s, and Berlin’s songs remain defiantly lusty: "Blue Skies" serves as an anthem to optimism, along with "Isn’t It A Lovely Day" and "I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm." "Russian Lullaby" provides a poignant note, and Berlin suggests that we show those blues the door with "Two Cheers, Instead of Three." The magic of the movies is celebrated when a poor young swain 
sells the piano for a sawbuck and treats his girl to a night out; after strutting through "Puttin’ on the Ritz," the young lovers, along with two other young couples, settle back into cinema seats and sigh, "I’m in heaven," as they recite "Cheek to Cheek" before launching into a comic frenzy of partner swapping before settling in once more with their chosen ones. The great war draws America to inspired heights of resolve, and the show sketches out scenes of a young soldier in the Army planning his revenge on the bugler while back home his girl works in a music hall and worries. Calls to arms like "This is the Army" and "Any Bonds Today" are softened by the swelling sentiments of "White Christmas" and "God Bless America." Rose the Riveter (or a close relation) shows up to wonder, "What’ll we do with the boys / When the boys come home?" in a rendition of "What Are We Going to Do With All the Jeeps," and a pair of street performers stroll their way through "We’re a Couple of Swells," "Easter Parade," and "Let’s Go Slumming’." Then the 1950s come rushing in: backstage at a production of Annie, Get Your Gun! starlets vie for leading lady status (cue up a vivacious round of "Anything You Can Do"), and when art surrenders to life, with the play’s producer being smitten, "You’re Just in Love" sums up his ailments and his exileration. The piano is, of course, the seventh member of the troupe, and the voice it’s given by the backstage orchestra is full and sweet. For their part, the cast not only sing with gusto, they carry out a clockwork choreography in which every step and every breath is carefully laid out so that the action on the stage is like a kaleidoscope of movement: director and choreographer Ray Roderick runs a tight, smooth show, but doesn’t strangle it, and Ed McCarthy’s lighting design compliments every number. Sam Fleming’s costumes provide flair and color, too, serving as a visual cue for the times as the show progresses. Each character is costumed in a way that adds to his or her distinct role. If you’re looking for a shot of vibrant good spirits set to Berlin’s jazzy masterpieces, I Love a Piano is a powerhouse of delights.