Broadway Bridge and Tunnel Test

The Broadway Bridge and Tunnel Test is our personal and highly opinionated Commuter's Guide to New York theater and cultural events, with an emphasis on Broadway and Off-Broadway theatrical productions. The test is simple: is an event worth the always expensive, time consuming, and too often horrendous struggle to commute to New York City from New Jersey, Long Island, Upstate New York or Connecticut? Only truly great or near-great performances and productions may meet this stiff challenge!

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Location: Princeton, New Jersey, United States

James Camner is an antiquarian dealer of autographs, manuscripts and printed music and books of Opera, Classical Music, Theater, Dance, and Film, as well as a published author of more than 10 books on the performing arts including "How to Enjoy Opera" (Simon and Schuster), "The Great Opera Stars in Historic Photographs" (Dover), "Stars of American Musical Theater in Historic Photographs" (Dover - with Stanley Appelbaum); was for over 20 years a reviewer for Fanfare Magazine and has written feature articles and reviews for Opera News.

Saturday, February 07, 2009

Music In The Air, a musical by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II at the New York City Center Encores! Starring Kristin Chenoweth, Sierra Boggess, and Douglas Sills directed by Gary Griffin. Restored by Bruce Pomahac, conducted by Rob Berman, directed by Gary Griffin, "Music in the Air" a 1932 musical miraculously springs to life. This "wedding cake" frothy musical, seemingly a send up of old fashioned operettas is actually more a send up of the New York music and show business industry of the 1930's era, moved to Germany, and it has one of the most beautiful scores we've heard on Broadway and anywhere else. But performing it, getting the early 1930's sensibility right, not camping it up, and being true to the material is not easy. But Encores! has done it wonderfully. The incomparable, mega talented Kristin Chenoweth is at her best, funny, and singing this operetta score with soaring ease. Sierra Boggess shows that her snub by Tony last year (no doubt snobbery against Disney) was a big mistake. She's an ideal ingenue, stunningly beautiful with a voice as clear as the bluest sky. She has the best song, "I've Told Every Little Star" and I will hear her singing it in my head for a long time. Douglas Sills is hilarious as Bruno Mahler. The direction, taken from Hammerstein's own complicated instructions couldn't be more effective. The costumes by David C. Woolard are especially gorgeous. This is one of our favorite Encores! presentations. There are two performances left. See this. Broadway Bridge and Tunnel Test Grade A+

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