LA Times
CALENDAR Section
Saturday 9/16/2000
'Madam" Has Heart of Gold
by Michael Phillips

Call this cozy concert edition of Irving Berlin's musical a banner show.

Complete with a 100% hum-the-hit guarantee, the REPRISE! edition of Irving Berlin's "Call Me Madam" is a mellow treat, easily one of the best shows I've seen under this particular banner at the UCLA Freud Playhouse. Why this one? Certainly the REPRISE! folks, presenting semi-staged concert editions of musicals, have undertaken stronger material. They have dealt with far bigger marquee-value names, though the Freud itself has no actual marquee. But this one clicks. There's an ease and authority in the casting, Alan Johnson's snappy choreography, musical director Peter Matz's charts for the 13-piece orchestra, in John Bowab's efficient direction. Even if it had none of these, "Call Me Madam" would still boast what can only be termed a $50 number. It is the incomparably catchy duet "You're Just in Love," sung here by Karen Morrow, who has cozied up to her share of roles originated by Ethel Merman and, lately in "Martin Guerre," Hugh Panaro. Berlin added this ringer to "Call Me Madam" just before it opened on Broadway in 1950. Like Berlin's "Louisiana Purchase" 10 years earlier, the show was a genial, topical goof on contemporary politics. Merman played "the hostess with the mostes," Sally Adams, a brassy variation on Perle Mesta, the Washington, D.C., party giver and Harry Truman crony who became minister to Luxembourg. The musical's heroine is dispatched by Truman to the fictional land of Lichtenburg, where Sally falls for the handsome Cosmo Constantine (Michael Nouri, Mr. Relaxation- the guy makes Perry Como look like Jim Carrey). Adams' earnest assistant (Panaro) meantime espies Princess Maria (Melissa Dye) and ka-thump, ka-thump- he hears music but there's no one there! He's just in love. Fifty years later, some theatergoers recognize the name Perle Mesta, while others don't know Perle Mesta from Pearle Vision. No matter. The Howard Lindsay - Russel Crouse libretto has been very deftly trimmed and adjusted by Charles Repole and Bill Russel. No one can do much about Berlin's Lichtenburgian folk dance ditty "The Ocarina" -which is like Berlin's "Piccolino" yanked out of Italy and plunked down here- but even this number is treated fairly and squarely.

Morrow, who can really open up those vowel sounds and flash a winning smile, wisely doesn't force the comedy. In "We Like Ike," a trio of D.C. flunkies speculates on the upcoming 1952 presidential election; Michael Tucci, as the Republican of the bunch ("I'm a Republican," he keeps saying) proves especially wry. Paul Keith does a wonderful turn- Jules Munshin lives! -as Cosmo's sometime nemesis, Sebastian Sebastian.

The Berlin score's other official pip, "It's a Lovely Day Today," goes to Panaro and Dye. Dye finesses her routine role just so. Panaro's an equally strong singer, though he'd come off even better if he relaxed a little. This is what happens when a singer-actor does "Martin Guerre," "The Phantom of the Opera," and "Les Miserables". He has a difficult time not going for the jugular with every song. Berlin's stuff isn't like that. The reason audiences go nuts- joyously nuts -for tunes such as "It's a Lovely Day Today" and "You're Just in Love" hasn't to do with the killer instinct (although Merman certainly had hers working overtime every minute). It's about charm. No classic, "Call Me Madam" had charm in spades. So does the REPRISE! version.



BackStage West
Review ("Critic's Pick")
9/21/2000
CALL ME MADAM
at the Frieud Playhouse
by Wenzel Jones

Call me dazzled. This concert adaptation (Charles Repole and Bill Russell) of the original book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse is a remarkably clean and uncluttered piece of work, directed with an obvious love of the material by John Bowab. The music and lyrics of Irving Berlin sparkle all the more for the spare setting. The slight tale of the brash American heiress, Sally Adams (Karen Morrow), whose social panache and bottomless checkbook secure her an ambassador's post to the mythical country of Lichtenburg ("Too small to be a city, too big to be a town," as Mr. Berlin puts it), derives much of its humor from the juxtaposition of immiscible elements (Old World vs. new, money vs. ideals, men vs. women). Its primary function, of course, is as an excuse for Ms. Morrow to belt out tunes from a time before musical theater concerned itself with despair and anomie. Swathed in simple but elegant costumes (Noel Taylor), Morrow handily carries the show without steamrolling over the other fine players. Hugh Panaro, still possessed of those cheekbones that were the most striking aspect of Martin Guerre (burning set notwithstanding), is a delight as the young American staffer who falls for the Princess Maria (Melissa Dye). Dye is an exquisite creation, able to convey both the porcelain delicacy and slightly constipated air of the true aristocrat. When Dye and Panaro are paired in the charming duet "It's a Lovely Day Today," you can't help but notice how terribly undemocratic the gene pool can be. Morrow is paired with Michael Nouri as the Foreign Minister of Lichtenburg, Cosmo Constantine. Nouri has silvered into that same sort of easy elegance that made Omar Sharif so seductive in his day, thus serving as a perfect foil to the brazen Sally Adams and to the eternally flustered Prime Minister, Sebastian Sebastian (Paul Keith, delivering a valentine to the great character actors of '40s movies). Alan Johnson draws heavily from his variety-show experience and choreographs with great humor, whether in a showstopper such as "Something to Dance About" or something perfectly silly such as "The Ocarina." The orchestra, under the direction of Peter Matz, is superb. Handsomely placed on Ray Klausen's set of tied back draperies, they are the ne plus ultra of '50s swank. If they don't have you singing the songs on the way to the car, I'd advise you to check your pulse. You'll no doubt find you have none.




The Hollywood Reporter
9/18/2000
"Call Me Madam"
by Ed Kaufman

"Call Me Madam" is a splendidly old-fashioned and hugely enjoyable show. Written in 1950 - with music and lyrics by the legendary Irving Berlin and book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse - "Madam" is fashionably skeptical as it pokes good natured fun at things American, its politicians and especially the brash and resourceful Sally Adams, "The Hostess with the Mostess." After all, it's the benign and serene '50s. Although everyone connected with the show denied it was based on anyone real, the role of Sally Adams (originally played on Broadway by the larger-than-life Ethel Merman) somewhat resembles Mrs. Perle Mesta, one of Washington's wealthiest and most famous party givers, whom President Truman dispatched to Luxembourg as ambassador. Sally is sent to the mythical kingdom of Lichtenburg, a small country with large economic problems. And in the true spirit of '50s musicals, the unmarried Sally -the brazen American with moxie- manages to aid struggling Lichtenburg and fall in love with (and capture the heart of) Prime Minister Cosmo Constantine. But that's only after a lot of onstage high jinks and a wonderful and lyrical musical score by Berlin. As Sally , Karen Morrow is softer and more charming and beguiling than the indomitable Merman. And Michael Nouri is an attractive Cosmo, every inch the stubborn and political idealist who comes to realize the wisdom of Sally. Their duets "Marrying for Love" and "The Best Thing for You" are rich with genuine feelings. As Kenneth Gibson, Sally's assistant, Hugh Panaro is splendid as he courts the virginal Princess Maria (the talented Melissa Dye) with "It's a Lovely Day Today."
And Panaro and Morrow manage to stop the show with "You're Just in Love." Michael Tucci, Gerry McIntyre and Paul Clausen bring strong support as a trio of lawmakers from Washington who sing the catchy "They Like Ike"; also solid are veteran Robert Mandan as the uptight Pemberton Maxwell and comic Paul Keith as the confused Sebastian Sebastian, the former Prime Minister. redit John Bowab for the astute direction, Alan Johnson for the skillful choreography, Noel Taylor for the colorful costumes and Peter Matz for the expert musical direction

 

 

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