PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The mating season has arrived at the Barrington Stage Company. This theatrical outpost in the Berkshires has recreated the habitat of creatures whose ruling imperative is to find sexual partners fast. You will be happy to know that, nature being generous by and large, most of them get — how shall we put it? — lucky. You, in turn, will surely feel lucky to be in their company for a couple of hours.
http://theater.nytimes.com/...
John Rando’s production of “On the Town,” the 1944 musical about three sailors on shore leave in New York City, is one of those rare revivals that remind us what a hit show from long ago was originally all about. In this case, it’s the sex, stupid. That should be a no-brainer given that the plot concerns servicemen, long deprived of female company, bent on finding dream dates (or any dates) under a 24-hour deadline.
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The production runs only through July 13, giving it the mayfly-like life span of the romances it portrays. Normally, I wouldn’t tell citizens of the five boroughs to drive three hours to be told that New York is a helluva town. But this enchanted vision of a city that was — and of course never was — is worth catching before it evaporates.
That was Ben Brantley, everyone, reviewing for the NYT.
Bernstein's glorious score:
A little background:
On the Town is a musical with music by Leonard Bernstein and book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, based on Jerome Robbins' idea for his 1944 ballet Fancy Free, which he had set to Bernstein's music. The musical introduced several popular and classic songs, among them "New York, New York", "Lonely Town", "I Can Cook, Too" (for which Bernstein also wrote the lyrics), and "Some Other Time". The story concerns three American sailors on a 24-hour shore leave in New York City during wartime 1944. Each of the three sailors becomes enamoured of a particular woman — and of the city itself.
On the Town was first produced on Broadway in 1944 and was made into a film in 1949 - although the film replaced all but three of the original Broadway songs with Hollywood-written substitutes. The show has enjoyed a number of major revivals. The musical integrates dance into its storytelling: Robbins made a number of ballets and extended dance sequences for the show, including the "Imaginary Coney Island" ballet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
"I Can Cook, Too":
"Imaginary Coney Island":