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Entertainment

Show tells story of Broadway's old king

George M! tells the story of a composer-actor once known as the "emperor of Broadway."

By BARBARA L. FREDRICKSEN
Published January 14, 2006

George M! is a hybrid musical: part the biography of composer-actor George M. Cohan, part a revue of his music (You're a Grand Old Flag, Give My Regards to Broadway), part monologue and part a look backstage at typical vaudeville and Broadway shows.

The mix often gives an abrupt, choppy feel to the show as it rushes from one scene to another without much transition or exposition.

Those who know Cohan's story can mentally fill in the blanks, but others may be left wondering, "What the hey ..."

Even so, the production of George M!, playing weekends through Jan. 29 at Richey Suncoast Theatre, has many enjoyable moments, thanks to fine performances by several of the actors, particularly Jim Poe as George M.'s father, Jerry, Austin Ciliberti as Young George and Jonathan Tietz as Older George, as well as snappy dance routines by choreographer Marie Skelton's well-coached dancers.

The base of the show is Cohan's often tumultuous rise to the top, from his beginning as part of the family vaudeville act to his becoming the "emperor of Broadway" from the 1890s to the early 1930s. He wrote, directed, staged and often starred in his multiple Broadway hits and dominated musical theater for four decades.

Michael Stewart and John and Fran Pascal's script rushes headlong through this fascinating life - his conflicts with his family and co-workers, a failed marriage, an affair with a chorus girl, the sudden death of his beloved father, his tangles with the actors union. In their zeal to tell a lot, the writers don't go into enough depth on any one part. The dialogue is brief and only suggests what really happened and how powerful and influential Cohan was.

It's left up to the singing and tap dancing and some of the more dramatic exchanges between certain characters to provide this show's pleasures. One of the most impressive exchanges is between the aging George M. and a theater gofer named Walt, played with power and poise by Adam Ceccofiglio, who finally tells off the tyrannical impresario near the end of Act 2.

Other fine moments are provided by an adorable Sandrinne Stigson-Edstrom as Young George's sister Josie, Ciliberti as a spunky, brash Young George, Liz Onley as George's second, adoring wife, Agnes, and plucky Ereka Passarella in a number of roles.

The youthful Tietz carries off the large burden of the title role nicely, switching from elderly to young to middle-aged back to elderly with the swipe of some stage makeup, effective posture and changes in his voice.

Director Charlie Skelton did a fine job casting this large show, spotlighting some longtime Richey Suncoast players for the first time - young Caitlin Ramirez as the wistfully singing backstage maid, for example - and having the feature songs sung by the strongest voices: Ada Marinelli as temperamental diva Fay Templeton, Teri Esguerra as George's long-suffering first wife, Ethel, and Ms. Onley as Agnes.

Music director Marvin Lovett and his seven-piece orchestra provide nicely paced and well-executed accompaniment. Set designer Skelton and his crew provided appropriate backgrounds, with the help of Tom Hansen and the Show Palace Dinner Theatre.

George M!, a musical, plays weekends through Jan. 29 at Richey Suncoast Theatre, 6237 Grand Blvd., New Port Richey. Shows are 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2:30 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are $15. The box office is open 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and an hour before each show. Call (727) 842-6777.

[Last modified January 14, 2006, 01:39:15]