A LOOK BACK AT AN OLD MUSICAL ABOUT STRIKING OIL
STRIKES IT RICH AS IT STRIKES ALL THE RIGHT NOTES  

“Kid, when you need the crowd the tickets are hard to sell.”

That’s a line from “Hey, Look Me Over,” the best-known (and arguably the best) number from the old musical Wildcat. Because of the desire for audiences to see TV’s beloved comic actress Lucille Ball in person as the star of her first Broadway show, tickets were NOT so “hard to sell.” Looking around at the packed room at 54 Below, it also seems that tickets for a night presenting songs from the musical, with a discussion of its history and plot, were not hard to sell for this one-night revisit on July 28. A super-satisfying set of singers, accompanied on piano by Michael Lavine with a savvy golden touch to make that golden-age musical-comedy glow, made for terrific time-traveling and, well, just a terrific time. Feisty Marilu Henner and the cheery Jenna Lea Rosen worked well together, making hay with “Hey, Look Me Over” early on and reprising it as a finale, encouraging the crowd to sing along.

Ryan Andes

A special and sweet historical aspect of the casting was the inclusion of Ryan Andes to sing (quite wonderfully, in big voice) two numbers introduced by the male star of the original production way back when: his own grandfather, Keith Andes. He also offered some remarks about his relative and the redheaded actress who played the title role of Wildcat Jackson, who sets out to strike it rich by striking oil. An even more direct connection to the history of the show came via a filmed segment made for the occasion: Talking about getting the role of Janie (Wildcat’s younger sister) was Paula Stewart – who is now 96 years old. The score’s tender moment wherein Wildcat expresses her wishes for her sibling, “That’s What I Want for Janie,” was warmly rendered by Ilene Graff.

Marilu Henner

Well, the well-prepared, well-informed and endlessly engaging host/narrator/producer Charles Kirsch did an especially smooth job explaining the plot of N. Richard Nash’s script to set up the musical numbers by composer Cy Coleman and lyricist Carolyn Leigh (their first score) for the show that opened at the Alvin Theatre in the last weeks of 1960 and, due to its leading lady’s health issues and injuries, had its last performance in June of 1961. The next year, the score’s writers would be back with a little something called Little Me, with a book by Neil Simon. (Fun fact: The Alvin would eventually be renamed The Neil Simon Theatre.)

Luba Mason and Lenny Wolpe – who’d played Wildcat’s lead roles in a one-night fundraiser back in 2010 – were especially entertaining and energetic taking on “What Takes My Fancy” which seemed to definitely take the audience’s fancy, judging by smiles, laughs, and applause.  

Joel Newsome and Paula Leggett Chase

Other strong duet partners sampling the score were: the twosome of  Joel Newsome & Paulette Leggett Chase; Jenny Lee Stern & Christopher De Prophetis; Ben Jones & the returning Jenna Lea Rosen; and, nailing “You’re a Liar” for LOL moments, John Bolton & Eve Plumb. A terrific group of male singers (with some sublime harmonies) — namely Noah Barnes, Mike Cefalo, Quinn Corcoran and Bruce Landry – graced the stage as a winsome awesome foursome, also joining Mr. Andes for “Corduroy Road” and sharing the stage with Ruth Gottschall for a wildly successful romp through Wildcat’s zippy title tune. Those who mostly know this musical via recordings (or who might have seen early performances of the original or the very occasional latter-day presentations) might not be aware that many who saw the show in 1961 did not get to hear the title song or “That’s What I Want for Janie” as they were cut during the run to lighten the load on the fading-in-strength Lucille Ball, whose main strength was not singing anyway.

Of course, it’s more common for numbers to be cut BEFORE opening night (in rehearsals, on the road, or just in the development and planning). In the case of Wildcat there’s a whopping total of TEN songs that fit that description and the joy-filled July journey through what was written for the 1960 show included a few as bonus features. The combo platter of “Angelina” and “Far Away From Home” dazzled, courtesy of the combo platter of the talents of Nicolas King and Seth Sikes. And Sara Zahn brought just the right mix of pluck, pride, and pizzazz as she sunnily sang the thesis that “there must have been some rubber in my family tree ‘cause I ‘Keep Bouncing Back for More.’” A very gratified audience will want to keep bouncing back for more score-exploring evenings like this at 54 Below.

photos by Maryann Lopinto

The artists of 54 Sings Wildcat