CELEBRATING KANDER & EBB:
WHAT A LARK!
In the heart of southern Marin County, Larkspur’s Lark Theater is a 1936 art deco movie house with a single screen. It required hard work, dedicated volunteers and plenty of donations from 2004 to 2007 to transform it into a state-of-the-art film and cultural center.
Today, this historic treasure boasts a newly added stage, banks of spotlights, and a grand piano. The Lark presents live theatre, musicals, and jazz in addition to classic and current films and community events. Amusingly, space limitations of this historic building require actors in the current production The World Goes ‘Round to use an adjacent real estate office for dressing rooms.
Emma Roos, Ken Brill, Maureen McVerry, Noel Anthony, Dyan McBrideThe World Goes ‘Round is a Broadway revue featuring the music of American songwriting team John Kander and Fred Ebb, brings together five veteran performers who variously croon, belt out, and harmonize familiar songs. Over their partnership of 40 years, Kander and Ebb created classics from shows and films such as Cabaret, Chicago, Kiss of the Spider Woman, and other signature hits.
Directed and choregraphed by Carolyn Hutchinson, the two dozen songs featured in The World Goes ‘Round hit all the right notes. Vocalists Noel Anthony, Ken Brill, Dyan McBride, Maureen McVerry, and Emma Roos fill the auditorium with soaring voices and harmonies for 90 nonstop minutes. Also excellent actors, they easily interject dance moves and humorous bits, the mark of true stage professionals.
Maureen McVerry and Ken BrillRoos initiates the show’s theme song, and the full company follows with the hilarious “Coffee in a Cardboard Cup.” More caffeine zooms their quickened pace to hilarity. McBride brings the house down with her bawdy “Arthur in the Afternoon” assisted by hunky Mr. Anthony in dark shades. Later, Anthony’s powerful tenor voice filled the theater with “Kiss of the Spider Woman.”
Noel Anthony and Dyan McBrideAlso an excellent clarinetist, Brill evoked the audiences’ amusing sympathy when he began “Mr. Cellophane” without a proper spotlight. The audience howled with laughter as McVerry fired off rapid lyrics in “The Grass is Always Greener.” Roos showed both sides of emotion when she sang “How Lucky Can You Get?” followed later in the program with the sadly poignant “Isn’t This Better?”
Less enthusiastic applause met an unconventional arrangement of “Cabaret” done in a jazz fusion style evocative of the Manhattan Transfer group. Post-show comments overheard included “Why change such a great song?” One performer added “It was so very difficult to learn. Even our piano accompanist (musical director Dave Dobrusky) was less than enthusiastic.”
Full-screen projected backdrops cleverly expand several onstage songs. Producer Ellie Mednick had to be pleased to see multi-media visuals enhancing live performers on the Vickie Soulier Stage. Since 2012 Mednick has tirelessly guided the Lark Theater to become a permanent and prestigious community resource, preserving it for all to enjoy.
The World Goes ‘Round ended with a rousing sing-along to “New York, New York,” one of Frank Sinatra’s signatures and now the state’s official song. Kander and Ebb also wrote several songs for Liza Minnelli, who is credited with saying “The greatest thing about Kander and Ebb is you sing their songs and you feel good.” This is the show to do just that.
The World Goes ‘Round
Lark Theater, 549 Magnolia Ave. in Larkspur
ends on April 20, 2025
for tickets, visit Lark Theater
