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- Musical aims for that classic feel
  
  Thursday, June 3, 2004
  
  BY JENN MCKEE News Arts Writer
  
  To say that the Ann Arbor Civic Theatre's newest production, "My One and Only," consists of the same old song and dance wouldn't offend director Ron Baumanis in the least.
  
  "I think this area is craving big, funny, old-fashioned musicals," Baumanis said. "They're so pleasing to the audience and performers, but it seems like theaters have gotten away from doing what they do best."
  
  Baumanis, pointing to turgid Broadway productions like "Jekyll & Hyde," takes pains to steer his work in a very different direction. "Shows like that weren't created to be done by community theater," he said. "They're all computerized. It's so distancing that there's nothing to connect to. People come expecting big sets and rock music, but that's not what the musicals are about."
  
  Constructed around a collection of Gershwin tunes, "My One and Only" - like its heroine, Edythe - has a complicated, checkered past. In the 1980s, Peter Sellers helmed the first version of the show, hoping to bring Russian deconstructionalism to Broadway. But not only did the show's star, dancer Tommy Tune, voice apologies to the audience on the play's opening night in Boston, word of mouth in New York soon renamed the show "My Flop and Phony."
  
  So over the course of only a month, Tune and a dozen different writers re-worked the songs, the scenes, the characters, and the choreography and, amazingly, they came up with a winner.
  
  "It opened on broadway the same year as 'Cats,' so it was very much the London spectacle versus the very human, old-fashioned musical comedy," said Baumanis.
  
  The show - which Baumanis calls "music with a script thrown in" - tells the story of Edythe Herbert, a channel swimmer-turned-showgirl, and Billy Buck Chandler, an aviator from Texas who dreams of flying from New York City to Paris. Set in 1927, Edythe finds herself trapped in a relationship with her boss, Prince Nikki, while Billy's female mechanic, Mickey, throws a wrench in the works of Billy and Edythe's romance.
  
  "I love the show's energy, joy and music," said Michael Mahoney, the University of Michigan theater student who plays Billy. "It's very tiring. There's a lot of running around, and it requires a lot of quick thinking and energy. When I get home from rehearsals all I can do is sleep. But it's wonderfully exhilarating at the same time."
  
  Allison Pearlman, a Western Michigan student who plays Edythe, found a different sort of challenge in the play: "The songs may sound simple, but there are a lot of difficult rhythms and difficult lyrics."
  
  And although the demanding amount of choreography has also taxed the cast, Pearlman noted, "It sounds so cool when we're on stage and tapping in synch."
  
  Even the scene changes are choreographed, such that the actors sometimes dance with props and set pieces. A 13-piece orchestra provides the production's music, and the stylized, art deco set, accented with silver, gives the impression of an old black and white film.
  
  "(Baumanis) did a great job of creating the world of this show," said Mahoney.
  
  "It's a real throwback," said Baumanis. "There's no doubt from the first strain that you're in for a night of Gershwin. The show's not done much because it's so dance reliant, and it demands performers who are dancers, singers and actors. But in Ann Arbor, we're darn lucky. We have them."

"My One and Only" Preview

Musical aims for that classic feel

Thursday, June 3, 2004

BY JENN MCKEE News Arts Writer

To say that the Ann Arbor Civic Theatre's newest production, "My One and Only," consists of the same old song and dance wouldn't offend director Ron Baumanis in the least.

"I think this area is craving big, funny, old-fashioned musicals," Baumanis said. "They're so pleasing to the audience and performers, but it seems like theaters have gotten away from doing what they do best."

So over the course of only a month, Tune and a dozen different writers re-worked the songs, the scenes, the characters, and the choreography and, amazingly, they came up with a winner.

"It opened on broadway the same year as 'Cats,' so it was very much the London spectacle versus the very human, old-fashioned musical comedy," said Baumanis.

Allison Pearlman, a Western Michigan student who plays Edythe, found a different sort of challenge in the play: "The songs may sound simple, but there are a lot of difficult rhythms and difficult lyrics."

And although the demanding amount of choreography has also taxed the cast, Pearlman noted, "It sounds so cool when we're on stage and tapping in synch."

Even the scene changes are choreographed, such that the actors sometimes dance with props and set pieces. A 13-piece orchestra provides the production's music, and the stylized, art deco set, accented with silver, gives the impression of an old black and white film.

"(Baumanis) did a great job of creating the world of this show," said Mahoney.

"It's a real throwback," said Baumanis. "There's no doubt from the first strain that you're in for a night of Gershwin. The show's not done much because it's so dance reliant, and it demands performers who are dancers, singers and actors. But in Ann Arbor, we're darn lucky. We have them."