Theater  Review—

Great Talent And A Set Design Of

Legendary Standards Have Made Richter’s ‘Twentieth Century’ Very Enjoyable

By Julie Stern

DANBURY — The Producers was a Broadway hit musical based on a Zero Mostel movie about an egomaniacal con man who gets lots of people to invest in a show so bad it will never even open.

In 1933, Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur wrote a play about an egomaniacal producer attempting to jumpstart his career during a trip on the luxurious Twentieth Century Limited, the train that runs between Chicago and New York.  A year later the play was made into a movie with John Barrymore and Carole Lombard, and credited with being the first “screwball comedy.”

Then, 45 years later, Betty Comden and Adolph Green turned it into a musical, with a score by Cy Coleman, that ran for 449 performances and reeled in six Tony Awards, including one for Best Scenic Design. Well, if the bulk of your play takes place on a train, it creates lots of challenges and opportunities for a set designer.

Now Musicals at Richter has chosen to do this show as its middle production, with director-choreographer Christopher Gladysz  taking the leading role, as well as designing the multifaceted set. Clearly this can be seen as a labor of love, or the chance of a lifetime, or both.

For those unfamiliar with the story (which is probably most people) Oscar Jaffe, the floundering impresario whose Chicago production of his own play about Joan of Arc was a spectacular flop, is on his way to New York where he faces an army of creditors clamoring for his hide.

His only hope is to use the 20-hour train ride to formulate a new plan, which involves convincing Lily Garland, the film star he discovered, mentored and bedded, to sign a contract with him for a Broadway show. It will be perfect, for her — a musical about Mary Magdalene.

The company is fleshed out by Jaffe’s two loyal acolytes, Owen O’Malley and Oliver Webb, Lily’s current  lover, Bruce Granite (a smooth talking hunk from the movie studio); Letitia Peabody Primrose, a millionairess with a handy checkbook and a checkered past; and Max Jacobs, a wildly successful producer who was once Jaffe’s office boy until Jaffe fired him.

There is a lot of talent on stage here, especially Priscilla Squiers, whose beautiful voice and comic talents are used to good effect as Lily; Peter M. Lerman and Matt Austin as the fast talking team of O’Malley and Webb; and Jody Bayer as Letitia. The score is not particularly memorable, but the ensemble set pieces involving the passengers and crew of the train are fun to watch.

And then there’s that train. A hardworking crew of black clad stage hands labored heroically to keep the huge flats turning as they changed from being the station platform, the elegant drawing rooms, the engine and the coal tender by turns.

(Performances continue through Saturday, July 28, at 8:30 pm. Tickets range from $12 to $20.

Call 748-MUSE [6873] for reservations and additional information.)