Had a nice time last night at the Reprise! production of Babes in Arms. Richard Rodgers and Larry Hart wrote it in 1937 and the consensus was that it had a silly, lightweight plot but a lot of great songs. Every few decades since, someone takes a crack at rewriting the book and what they wind up with is a silly, lightweight plot but a lot of great songs. The great songs include "The Lady is a Tramp," "I Wish I Were In Love Again," "My Funny Valentine," "Johnny One-Note" and "Where or When." Some shows never have one number as memorable as any of those five.
The plot, such as it is, revolves around a group of talented, unpaid interns who work in a regional theater that's in trouble due to a string of rotten plays. The heroine, Bunny, is a part owner but is about to lose her share of the theater to a bad guy named Fleming who has mismanaged the place into near-bankruptcy. His latest offering is a dreadful thing called The Deep North, written by, directed by and starring an inept, egomaniacal Southern playwright. A great Broadway producer is coming to see it so the salvation of the theater (or at least of Bunny's share) depends on the kids getting the bad play cancelled prematurely — like, during the first act — and getting the opportunity to show the producer a revue they've been developing in their spare time. There are a number of romantic entanglements but basically, that's what it's about, at least in the version Reprise! is doing, which is a 1959 rewrite of the book by George Oppenheimer.
But the inane script can almost be forgiven because the songs are so good, the dancing in this version is so good, and the cast is first-rate. Jodi Benson is terrific as Bunny. All the publicity material reminds us that she was the voice of The Little Mermaid and all around us, you could hear people whispering, "She was the Little Mermaid." And she was — but she's also a terrific musical comedy performer with the kind of voice you have to have to sustain that one endless note in "Johnny One-Note." Also wonderful in the cast were Beth Malone, Jeffrey Schecter, former "New Kid on the Block" Joey McIntyre, Bets Malone, Steve Vinovich, Jenna Leigh Green, old pro Ruta Lee and, in the role of the jerk playwright, Tom Beyer.
As with all these Reprise! shows, there aren't many performances and my subscription is for late in the run because the later you go, the more experience the cast has had in their roles. So you probably won't be able to catch this one, which closes Sunday. But there still tickets for the next two Reprise! shows. They're doing Kismet in January and Company in May. Details at their website. Looking forward to both.