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PAMELA'S FIRST MUSICAL

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Benefit Concert
May 18, 2008
Town Hall Theatre, New York City
Reviewed by Ligia Fernandez

Any vehicle that introduces young audiences to the magic of Broadway musicals is fine by me.  So it was with great joy that I bought playwright Wendy Wasserstein's (THE HEIDI CHRONICLES) delightful children's book, Pamela's First Musical, when it was first published in 1996.  With its charming illustrations by Andrew Jackness, the book is the whirlwind Broadway adventure of Pamela, a nine-year-old aspiring Broadway director, who is whisked away by her glamorous, free-spirited Aunt Louise to experience her first Manhattan musical.  Aunt Louise knows simply everyone in the Broadway community so Pamela is introduced along the way to an assortment of actors, stagehands, producers and other theatre professionals.

It seems only natural that a book about broadway musicals should get staged. The musical version, with music by the legendary Cy Coleman (SWEET CHARITY, BARNUM, CITY OF ANGELS, LITTLE ME), lyrics by David Zippel (CITY OF ANGELS, THE GOODBYE GIRL) and book by Wasserstein, had been in development for quite some time.  The deaths of Coleman in 2004 and Wasserstein in 2006 delayed the project. 

On May 18th, a one-night-only concert version benefiting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids was presented at Town Hall starring Tony Award winner Donna Murphy (PASSION) as Aunt Louise and Lila Coogan (MARY POPPINS) as Pamela.

As a fan of the book, I was glad to see that many of the book's musical theatre insider jokes made the cut, including the over-the-top character names of the fictional musical's leading actors -- "Mary-Ethel Bernadette" (played by MAMMA MIA's Carolee Carmello) and "Nathan Hines-Klines" (CITY OF ANGELS star Gregg Edelman).

One of the most tongue-in-the-cheek numbers (aptly named "The Broadway Song") features real-life Broadway professionals playing roles mirroring their actual jobs -- songwriting team Lynn Ahrens & Stephen Flaherty (ONCE ON THIS ISLAND, RAGTIME) as songwriting team "Cy & Betty Songheim", New York Post theatre critic Michael Riedel as critic "Simon Crankley" and actress/choreographer Donna McKechnie (A CHORUS LINE) as choreographer Tiny La Tuna.

I enjoyed most of the cast performances, most especially Murphy, Coogan and David Garrison as producer Bernie Gerry. The all-star line-up also included a score of Broadway luminaries playing themselves in a scene at Sardi's where during lunch with Pamela and Louise Bernie points out the famous Sardi's caricatures leading to walk-ons by Tommy Tune, Lilias White, Kathy Lee Gifford, Donna McKechnie, Sandy Duncan and Joel Grey.  (Note: In the book, Pamela and Louise lunch at the Russian Tea Room.  I'm assuming the change was made for the sake of the Sardi's caricatures and not the declining popularity of Russian Tea Room.)

My only complaint is that while I found the majority of the songs catchy and well-written, the score lacked some cohesion of style.  Half of the music felt like rehashed 70s trunk songs from Coleman's I LOVE MY WIFE and others seemed more Charles Strouse than Cy Coleman.  If there's ever a CD, maybe you can judge for yourself and let me know what you think.

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