by Joseph Fields and Jerome Chodorov
Directed by Roger Hodgman
At the Festival Theatre
April 1-October 5, 2008

    This wonderful frolic from the 50s, set in the Big Apple, has allusions that have dated, but its score and drolleries haven’t. The music of Leonard Bernstein and the lyrics of Betty Comden and Adolph Green are a heavenly match, serving up wit, jazz, and charm in proportions we rarely get today in our musicals. True, the book (adapted from Joseph Fields and Jerome Chodorov’s My Sister Eileen, which in turn was based on Ruth McKenny’s semi-autobiographical stories for the New Yorker) is really a collection of episodes built around two sisters from Ohio—one (the plain one) a wisecracking writer, the other an aspiring, pulchritudinous actress—who seek their fortunes in New York, only to discover a host of problems before everything is sorted out in time for the finale. While Eileen is able to draw men’s attentions faster than a wolf whistle, Ruth is an expert (as one of her songs puts it) at finding “One Hundred Easy Ways To Lose A Man.” However, both have to contend, first of all, with New York itself. An urchin almost makes off with Ruth’s typewriter (the one missing the “W”), and then there’s portly landlord Appopolous who is sharper than a card shark as he rents them a tiny basement apartment in bohemian Greenwich Village (circa 1935), that is as low as they can sink, though the dynamite blasts from the subway project beneath them makes them wonder if they will sink even lower. At the very least, this portent of disaster makes them wonder in a wryly comic melodic duet “Why oh why oh why oh, why did we ever leave Ohio?” More trouble ensues, of course. When Ruth is eventually given a magazine assignment to interview some Brazilian sailors, she is swept into their Conga, and in the ensuing melee, she slugs a policeman and is arrested. The sisters face eviction.

   But this being a musical fable, things that go wrong are righted in fine fashion. Associate Editor Robert Baker falls in love with Ruth, enhancing her chances at being published, and sister Eileen charms virtually every male in her vicinity, and when she isn’t fascinating an Irish policeman (who insists she’s Irish), she joins Ruth in a gloriously rousing tribute to New York (“The Wrong Note Rag”). Bernstein’s score highlights straight ballads and parodies of swing, and the lyrics are admirably clever. Everything necessary for a light-hearted entertainment that Roger Hodgman’s production generally manages to deliver.

   William Schmuck’s set design is never better than when it opens up for the nightclub numbers, and Judith Bowden’s costumes are fine. Jane Johanson’s choreography, however, is lackluster, and the musical direction and orchestrations by Paul Sportelli are open to the usual complaints about a lack of dimension and texture in Shaw Festival musicals. “The Wrong Note Rag,” for instance, hasn’t got all the right notes to be a big triumph. Likewise, “Pass The Football,” Wreck the Linebacker’s satiric solo, though part of the problem with this one is Thom Marriott who slows down the tempo. The “Conga,” too falls a little flat, but there are other compensations. Jay Turvey’s “Quiet Girl” is nice and warm, and Ruth’s show-stopping “Swing” does just that—with a colourful assist from Lorne Kennedy’s “hepcat” Speedy Valenti in the dialogue and satiric departments.

   There is ample support from Thom Allison’s Chick Clark and Gabrielle Jones’ stuffily conservative Mrs. Wade, as well as from Jeff Madden in a couple of roles, and William Vickers’ Irish cop is a delight. As for the sisters, Chilina Kennedy is all twinkle and sparkle as Eileen, convincing you that she could charm the husk off corn, let alone the hearts and hormones of men. Lisa Horner as Ruth is wonderful, capturing the almost casual, throwaway wit of the character, as well as shading her comedy with nuances of spinsterish anxiety. She is bold in her physical comedy, and she certainly combines with Ms. Kennedy in giving us a lot to cheer about.  

Photos: David Cooper

pic 1: Lisa Horner as Ruth

pic2: Lisa Horner and Brazilian sailors in "Conga"

pic 3: Chilina Kennedy (Eileen) charming the cops



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