Here we go again, another musical revue. How to tie together all of those asynchronous songs? Surprisingly, Leader of the Pack has come up with an interesting way to pull this off. If you're going to do a retrospective of some of the hits of Tin Pan Alley of the 50s and 60s, why not offer the songs in contrast to the life of one of its top songwriters, Ellie Greenwich? Here, "Today I Met the Boy I'm Gonna Marry" is the soundtrack for her meeting with future hubby Jeff, "Chapel of Love" is performed during her hilarious wedding, and "Christmas-Baby Please Come Home" is sung by a forlorn Ellie following her divorce. It sounds corny, but this show has been carefully crafted, and seems to have deserved the Best Musical Tony® Nomination it received during a slow year for musicals. Even if you're not a devotee of oldies, there are plenty of recognizable tunes and a cute enough plot to keep your attention.
Theater League's current production, helmed by Richard Kline, choreographed by Sha Newman, and incorporating the aging nostalgia group Sha Na Na, ain't half bad. The dancers are spectacular, the singers impressive, and the leads do a great job. It's the name-over-the-title featured stars that ride on their past glory, although Jocko Marcellino, Screamin' Scott Simon, and Reggie Battise admittedly do have their moments. None of those moments, though, are acting-based.
Elyse Wolf is Ellie, and Tony Spinosa her partner in music and life. Ms. Wolf is very believable as the workaholic Ellie. She is every bit the little-girl-from-Queens-done-good. She sings her songs with soul, and is a pretty good dancer, too. Mr. Spinosa is enjoyable as the equally committed Jeff. He is cocksure, suave, and an obvious heartbreaker. Oh, and he's a great dancer on top of it all. An excellent performance comes from Tina Turner stand-in Melodye Perry, and it's also nice to see recent ASU graduate Dana Pauley in a featured role showcasing her singing and dancing talents.
The ensemble is a set of gymnastic dancers. They keep one-upping each other until it seems more about impossible contortions than 60s dances. Ms. Newman's choreography is highly energetic, and she gets the most from her cast.
Visually, the show isn't much. John Iacovelli's unit dance hall set with moving platforms has a few surprises, but because of the size of the set versus the size of the cast during several of the dance numbers, the dance hall often inadvertently looks like a rather unpopular place. Somewhat better is Kim Killingsworth's lighting, and Tom Phillips and Larry Watts' period costumes are delightful. Lloyd Cooper directs the onstage rock band effectively, while Mark Cowburn's sound design is effective.
There are some draggy moments, mostly when one of the members of Sha Na Na is trying to carry some of the plot on their back. When things get rolling, though, this is an enjoyable traipse through the life of a gifted woman who made it in a man's world, and through the songs that she gave to the world.
Production Details:
Leader of the Pack: The Ellie Greenwich Musical by Anne Beatts, Music and Lyrics by Ellie
Greewich and Friends, Based on the original play by Melanie
Mintz, Additional Material by Jack Heifner
Theater League
The Orpheum Theatre, City
(602) 262-7272
January 16th - 24th, 2000