BWW Reviews: THE MELODY LINGERS ON: THE SONGS OF IRVING BERLIN from Showtunes

Showtunes Theatre Company presents their latest tribute to what makes musical theater great with "The Melody Lingers On: The Songs of Irving Berlin".  Celebrating the works of one of America's greatest composers, the cast certainly knows how to take some wonderful songs and bring out the fun!

While having no real story as this is a revue, the show still had a through line of exploring the life and career of the incredible Irving Berlin.  A man whose songs still resonate today, some almost 100 years after they were first heard.  But then that's why many of his songs are referred to as standards as they have endured for so long.  This is probably why many people forget that it was Berlin who wrote them as they have just become part of music vocabulary.  Songs like "Alexander's Ragtime Band", What'll I Do", "Puttin' On The Ritz", and of course "God Bless America".  Yup, he wrote those.

And the cast of Shelly Burch, Jeff Church, Connie Corrick, Louis Hobson, Jon Lutyens, Aaron Shanks, Jenny Shotwell, Jessica Skerritt and Matt Wolfe not only lent their beautiful voices to these standards but also infused them with fun and heart.  All under the direction of Martin Charnin and the music direction of Mark Rabe, who almost stole the show when he took on "I Love a Piano" himself.  But I have to mention other stand outs like Burch and Wolfe channeling Ethel Merman and Donald O'Connor's "You're Just In Love" from "Call Me Madam".  And Hobson (fresh off his Broadway run in "next to normal") killed with his hilariously deadpan "Oh How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning" and then teamed with Shanks as the two velvet voices combined for "A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody".  Shotwell wowed with her sultry "You'd Be Surprised" one minute and then the next with her much more straight forward "You Can't Get a Man with a Gun".  All were amazing but I have to say the show stopper supreme was Wolfe's Jolson-esque "Let Me Sing and I'm Happy".  Talk about someone who knows how to build a song into a frenzy.  Just stunning.

But then they were all stunning.  There's not much more to say about the show as what can you say about a review.  But what I can say is that Showtunes continues to put on engaging and stirring tributes to Musical Theater.  Whether dusting off a forgotten show or putting together mesmerizing revues they have always (and continue to) put together wonderful shows with the cream of the crop of Seattle talent.  My only wish is that more people knew of them.  It got to be tough when you only perform for a weekend and only a few times a year to develop a following.  But rather than just being a show that happened, it's my wish that they become theatrical events that people clamor and plan for.  And you have another chance soon as they will be putting up another show in June.  This time featuring the songs of the legendary George M. Cohan.  Start planning now.

"The Melody Lingers On: The Songs of Irving Berlin" from Showtunes Theatre Company performed at the Moore Theater February 5^th and 6^th.  For information on their upcoming shows, visit them online at www.showtunestheatre.org or www.stgpresents.org.

Photo Credit: Chris Bennion

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