Last night I saw a revival of "On The Twentieth Century" at the beautiful American Airlines Theatre. "20th Century" was the first Broadway musical that I saw on Broadway, 37 years ago. I had forgotten how very funny this musical was.
Kristen Chenowith was born to play Lily Garland/Mildred Plotka. In this role she fully demonstrates her magnificent voice and great comedic skills. Peter Gallagher was a great hammy and handsome Oscar Jaffe. I've always thought the Oscar Jaffe character was based on the late impresario David Merrick. Andy Karl was very good as the egocentric Bruce Grannit although not as agile as Kevin Kline was 37 years ago in pratfalls and comic timing. Nevertheless he was quite funny. Mary Louise Wilson was a scene stealer as the nutty Letitia Primrose and much better and funnier than the original Imogene Coca. The sets were again a star of this show - as they were in 1978. Almost all the
action takes place on a train traveling from Chicago to New York in the 1930s. The four tap dancers who played the train's porters were scene-stealers too. While there are no memorable hit songs in this very unique Cy Coleman score it is one of his best scores he wrote and fits the production very well. Coleman was famous for very brassy Broadway scores such as 'Sweet Charity' and 'Little Me'. But for "20th Century" he wrote an operetta-like score where the rhythm of the train becomes the tempo for the score. It is almost sung throughout. Great artistry here. And I don't believe I have ever appreciated the cleverness and skill of Betty Comden and Adolph Green as I have with this musical. What a shame that Comden, Green and Coleman are now gone. There are no contemporary writers to compare with them. I fully enjoyed this production.
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