I'm a big fan of the works of Betty Comden, Adolph Green, and Cy Coleman but somehow, their 1978 musical On The Twentieth Century had slipped under my radar. Fortunately, Los Angeles has the Reprise! series, which resurrects classic musicals and stages them for limited runs of scaled-down productions. Actually, the only skimping for this show is in the sets. The costumes are grand, and the orchestra is at full strength because some anonymous donor kicked in to pay for extra musicians. The cast, even with minimal rehearsal, could scarcely be better.
The story takes place on the famous Chicago-to-New York train known as The Twentieth Century. As it makes that 17-hour journey, a failed Broadway producer (played brilliantly by Bob Gunton) attempts to salvage his life and career. Also aboard the liner is an actress (played likewise by Carolee Carmello) who was once his discovery and paramour, but who left him for stardom in Hollywood. The producer and his two aides (Dan Butler and Robert Picardo) try to get her to sign on for their next show while her leading man (Damon Kirsche) tries to keep her in the movies and a religious fanatic (Mimi Hines) roams the train. I'd single out more outstanding performances but this is one of those rare shows where everyone is terrific. The dialogue is rapid-fire and very clever, and the actors handle every wisecrack with style and aplomb.
The show's there 'til Sunday so the odds are you won't get to see it. But I came home so impressed that I had to write about it. We theatergoers go to a lot of poor shows waiting for an evening like this.