Review: A New Musical

The last two musicals we've seen have been about Burlesque. In November we saw Patti Lupone as an amazing Mama Rose in "Gypsy," the story of the stage mom to beat all stage moms at a time when Vaudeville was on its way out. Hopefully the next one--Pippen at the Mark Taper Forum is on our list--will involve no story line of people removing their clothes or pasties as costume pieces (no one is nude in either show, just to clarify.)

Last night, using the fantastic Hot Tix program of the Music Center in Los Angeles, we saw "Minsky's." Sure our seats were in the nosebleed (I actually got dizzy looking down at the orchestra we were so high), but they were only $20 a piece! Try paying that in NYC these days.

A collaboration by many of the people who were involved with a fun show from a few years ago, "The Drowsy Chaperone," this production carries the same humor and fabulous dancing of the other. "Minsky's," however has music that is a little more catchy than "Chaperone," even if the story is at times weaker. I was most impressed by the clever choreography. Interspersed throughout the musical are the burlesque girls rehearsing their upcoming show. One number in particular uses towels to hide their bodies and is very, very cute. My personal favorite was the Tap-fest opening of the 2nd act--Amazing dancing! I'm still not certain how that fit into the storyline, but I don't really care because the dancing was so good. The cast is full of famous people from theater with impressive resumes, a a few TV celebs, who also have legitimate theater experience--they weren't just padding the marquee, as NYC is doing more often. Norm from "Cheers" plays an important role, and Rachel Dratch formerly of "Saturday Night Live" (think Debbie Downer) had a few very funny scenes. Wonder if this show is on its way to Broadway? I'd be curious to see it there and learn if anything in the production changes from LA to NYC. But at prices for Broadway shows these days, who knows if anyone would be able to afford it!