Merry-Go-Round Theatre
October 2009

Syracuse New Times

Auburn's Merry-Go-Round Playhouse winds down its lengthy summer-and-beyond season with this tuneful tribute, which gives producing director Ed Sayles a few more chances to toss posies into the audience during his introduction.  The deep-into-October run also means theatergoers don't have to shell out the $2 parking fee to enter the parkland at Owasco Lake.

The show, which received its world premiere in 2005, is another conceptual project designed by Todd Olson and David Grapes II along the lines of their similar homage titled My Way: A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra, which enjoyed a 2006 run at MGR. Underneath a swanky art deco proscenium arch, designed by Annastacia Storie, a snappy four-piece band and three guys in song hold court. It quickly becomes apparent that the gents aren't going to slavishly replicate Bennett's velvety phrasing as they all take turns warbling entries from the Great American Songbook. Their different vocal inflections attest to the universality of the timeless tracks themselves, written by the likes of Duke Ellington, Irving Berlin, Harold Arlen and the Gershwins. Anyone can sing these songs, even wanna-be Tonys in the shower.

Then again, let's leave that task to the vocal champs assembled in Auburn. Pat McRoberts, Rob Sutton and Marty Thomas, all three boasting extensive Broadway credits, expertly handle the smatterings of biographical tidbits and the requisite between-song patter with as much enthusiasm as they bring to their song performances. The show manages to hit two nostalgia-drenched demographics, for audience members who still embrace Bennett's extensive repertoire and others who fondly recall guy-group sing-alongs from the 1950s and 1960s.

Director-choreographer Brett Smock has directed this showcase to reflect the songs rather than the singer. "The Best Is Yet to Come" is best remembered for Bennett's seduictive vamping of the verses, yet Marty Thomas' ballsy interpretation rejiggers the number into a sonic slice of supper club sass. More than 30 songs get equitably distributed for impressive solos (Rob Sutton performs the Dubin-Warren "Boulevard of Broken Dreams," immediately followed by Pat McRoberts tackling "Because of You"), while the band, led by music director Corinne Aquilina, receives some deserved audience applause, especially when John Eckert wields his mighty trumpet.

... the hits keep coming in Act II, topped by the singing triumvirate's passionate delivery of the enduring "I Left My Heart in San Francisco."

...Merry-Go-Round's seasonal swan song is a polished affair that moves like a bullet and brims with good cheer.The show, however, isn't about melancholy or crying in your eggnog. Instead the quartet of excellent vocalists and trio of accomplished musicians are determined to light up the holiday with Sinatra song and spirit.  If Sinatra makes you happy, you'll want to check out this gig.
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