42nd Street

It's been a minute since I've posted about seeing any kind of live theater. The fam set forth from the Fortress of Ineptitude to see Rent this past February and that's about it. 

So I'm kind of stretching things a bit to say this post is about live theater. 

This is about a production of 42nd Street performed on London's West End at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. Andrea and I watched a performance of this run that was recorded in November 2018. 

For the record, Andrea and I have seen 42nd Street  performed live before although we are hard pressed to remember exactly when or where.  We presume it was in the 1990s and most likely at the Carolina Theater in Greensboro. 

42nd Street is a 1980 stage musical based on the 1932 novel by Bradford Ropes and the subsequent 1933 Hollywood film adaptation.  The show presents a backstage look at the rehearsal process of a Broadway musical show being put on during the height of the great depression.

The show is a jukebox musical of sorts; in addition to songs from the 1933 film 42nd Street, it includes songs that Al Dubin and Harry Warren wrote for many other films at around the same time, including Gold Diggers of 1933, Roman Scandals, Dames, Gold Diggers of 1935, Go into Your Dance, Gold Diggers of 1937 and The Singing Marine. It also includes "There's a Sunny Side to Every Situation", written by Warren and Johnny Mercer for Hard to Get. A 2017 revival added the song "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", written by Warren and Dubin for Moulin Rouge.

42nd Street begins with auditions for 1933's newest show.  Pretty Lady, director Julian Marsh's latest big for epic to grace Broadway.

Peggy Sawyer, fresh off the bus from Allentown, Pennsylvania, arrives in New York City looking for her big break.  Peggy scores a spot in the chorus.  

Also on hand is Dorothy Brock, an aging diva well past her prime but she comes attached with an elderly beau with some disposable cash that Marsh really needs to launch his new show.   

Brock is still a passable singer and actor but she can't dance worth a damn so she does a lot of dramatic posing while the rest of the company dances around her.   

Besides the wealthy financier, Brock is also seeing a much younger man on the side, a doctor, which is cause for more headaches for Marsh.  

With all the hassles inherent in trying to launch a big Broadway musical in the middle of a depression and all the backstage drama, "Pretty Lady" starts to come together and the company is off to Philadelphia for out of town try outs. 

Then during a performance, a dancer accidentally bumps into Peggy who collides with Dorothy who falls and breaks her ankle. 

Dorothy Brock is down and out of the show.

Peggy Sawyer is fired.

And Julian Marsh closes down the show. They can't go on without their star.

But the cast makes the case there is someone who can perform the lead and certainly better than Dorothy Brock. 

And that person is....

Oh, you know where this is going, right?   

Julian Marsh and the gang make their case to convince Peggy Sawyer to come back to the show.

"Pretty Lady" lives to see another day! 

Peggy's journey to becoming a Broadway star is not always smooth, mostly tripped up by her self doubts.  But Julian Marsh is determined that Peggy will see this through. Her taking over the lead is crucial to the show's survival and he genuinely believes in Peggy's talent and potential.  

Hell, even Dorothy Brock comes around and confesses to Peggy Sawyer she is very good, perhaps even better than Dorothy, a major admission for a diva like Miss Brock.  

Julian Marsh is in many ways your basic go for broke ball-busting show producer type but his bullish aggressiveness is tempered by a very real concern for the cast. The success of "Pretty Lady" is not just his success but a chance for the members of the cast to have a steady pay check, a rare thing during the Depression.  Tom Lister threads the needle of portraying Julian Marsh with both power and sensitivity.   

Clare Halse as Peggy Sawyer does it all, a remarkable actress, singer and dancer whose range and strength of talent doing a lot of heavy lifting, especially in Act II.

In the role of Dorothy Brock is Bonnie Lanford who was companion Mel to the 6th and 7th Doctors on Doctor Who back in the 1980's. Langford is able to temper Dorothy's diva excesses with heart and she shows off some considerable chops as a singer.  

All in all, 42nd Street is a fun "let's put on a show" type of Broadway musical. Watching the film made from a 2018 live performance isn't quite like being there but some of the energy of live theater does come through.  

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Sorry, no post for Thursday.  We'll be back on Friday.