Victoria Byrd and Joseph Medeiros dance “The Yam,” penned by Irving Berlin for 1938’s Carefree.
As if the pandemic shutdown wasn’t enough, the York Theatre Company was forced out of its longtime home last January by a water main break that flooded buildings on its Midtown block. The company has relocated, at least for the foreseeable future, to the Theatre at St. Jean Baptiste on the Upper East Side.
Melanie Moore (left), Kaitlyn Davidson (right) and castmates perform songs from Berlin’s movie hits including Top Hat and Holiday Inn, as well as flops such as Second Fiddle.
Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s not a bomb-sheltery three stories below street level, like the York’s usual space, and its lobby and theater seats seem roomier. But perhaps best of all for York’s new revue Cheek to Cheek: Irving Berlin in Hollywood, the stage at St. Jean is bigger. Since Fred Astaire was a frequent star of movies scored by Irving Berlin, this show needs room for hoofing and for three couples to dance together on stage. Conceived, directed and choreographed by Broadway tap-meister Randy Skinner, Cheek to Cheek features more than 20 Berlin tunes, from the tap-happy “Let Yourself Go” and Easter Parade’s “Drum Crazy” to romantic melodies like “Be Careful, It’s My Heart” to “Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep).” The excellent five-person band, led by pianist and music director David Hancock Turner, starts things humming with an instrumental “Blue Skies,” one of the more famous songs in the show.
Now, you may ask: Even coming off a year and a half with no live theater, do we really need another Irving Berlin revue? While it’s never a bad time to hear Berlin’s music, considering America’s recent cultural reckoning—and how it’s shaking up what gets produced and who makes decisions in New York theater—this salute to a dead white guy does feel out of touch.
“Isn’t this a lovely day to be caught in the rain?” Berlin wrote—and Moore sings to Phillip Attmore. Photographs by Carol Rosegg.
That infelicitous aesthetic might have been overcome by a more imaginative presentation. The musical numbers are endearing, but veteran book writer Barry Kleinbort didn’t come up with anything more exciting than “And then this happened”–type narration in between, with what seems like the same staging over and over: Performer comes out from the wings, stands on side of stage, narrates, goes off stage or proceeds to sing or dance.
No complaints when that time comes: Old-fashioned dance-heavy shows are a sweet spot for Skinner—as his Tony nominations for 42nd Street, Dames at Sea and Irving Berlin’s White Christmas attest—and he certainly picked the right men for the job in Jeremy Benton and Phillip Attmore. Anybody who saw the Cotton Club homage After Midnight on Broadway knows what a treat it is to watch Attmore tap-dance, and Benton’s credits include playing Fred Astaire and being nominated for an Astaire Award.
Among the women, Melanie Moore (who’s got an Astaire Award nomination of her own, along with victory on TV’s So You Think You Can Dance) shines brightest on the dance floor, while Victoria Byrd and Kaitlyn Davidson contribute some lovely ballads. All three are beautifully attired by costume designer Nicole Wee in 1930s and ’40s-style dresses, trousers and tap pants. Joseph Medeiros, an alumnus of 10 Broadway shows, completes the ensemble. In addition to singing and dancing like his castmates, he portrays Berlin intermittently.
But the show’s curt dialogue scenes are as superficial as the narration they’re presumably meant to enliven, and some—like a phone call between Astaire and producer Arthur Freed—just seem hokey. When Berlin requests a percentage of his films’ gross, a studio executive replies, “A percentage of the gross? That’s highly unusual... unheard-of, in fact.” The exec then pauses for a second and says, “Agreed!” and immediately consents to his demands regarding creative control and publishing rights. Berlin’s business acumen might be worth further reflection, as would other topics that are mentioned but not explored in any detail. So the 80-minute show rarely offers real insights into moviemaking, Berlin’s Hollywood experiences or his thoughts about working in “pictures,” as they were called then.
Moore partners with Jeremy Benton on “The Best Things Happen While You’re Dancing.”
Cheek to Cheek ends on a high note, forsaking the chronological narration to make a point about the timeliness of Berlin’s decades-old music. “At the height of the Great Depression,” an actor states, “Berlin devised a number for Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in Follow the Fleet. On the surface, the song spoke of love, romance and dancing. But to the audience of that time, the song also spoke of something even more fundamental: survival and hope.” Then the cast sings, “There may be trouble ahead... there may be teardrops to shed... so while we still have the chance, let’s face the music and dance.”
And that is why we still need Irving Berlin’s music today.
Cheek to Cheek: Irving Berlin in Hollywood runs through Jan. 2 at the Theatre at St. Jean (184 E. 76th St.). Performances are at 7 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with matinees at 2:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are available by calling (212) 935-5820 or visiting yorktheatre.org.
