In some respects, Kirkwood celebrated a "coming out" party at the Robert Reim Theatre last night, where Stages St. Louis opened "Victor/Victoria," a mostly tuneful tale of a soprano who poses as a man impersonating a woman, and uses the gimmick to get a singing job in a Paris nightclub in the 1930s. It's based on a 1933 German play, rewritten by Blake Edwards in 1982 as a vehicle for his wife, Julie Andrews, ending her "Sound of Music/Mary Poppins" reputation for all time.
In 1995, when Andrews was 60, it was rewritten as a musical, with Edwards' book fleshed out with music by Henry Mancini — his only music for Broadway — and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse. Mancini died before the score was completed, and the prolific but untalented Frank Wildhorn finished up with some unmemorable music.
"Victor/Victoria" has some good musical numbers, and others that look a great deal like old Broadway classic moments. The finale is right from "A Chorus Line," with costumes, use of hats and style of music almost identical. The Paris night club is close to an equally blatant steal from the Hot Box Girls numbers in "Guys and Dolls," complete with Melinda Cowan, as Norma Cassidy, reprising the role of Adelaide that won Tony Awards for Vivian Blaine in the original and Faith Prince in a revival. Cowan is excellent as the lead gangster's girl friend, sparkling as she sings, "Paris Makes Me Horny," and "Chicago."
Janna Cardia is satisfactory as Victoria, who becomes Victor. She works hard, but suffered from occasional piercing volume, probably due to a careless hand by a sound technician. She also seemed to lack a certain sexiness in her attitude, though having to respond as a man in a few situations with King Marchand (Gary Lynch) may have caused the restraint. Lynch isn't a great singer, but he's in fine acting style as a Chicago gangster who has had great success with women, and who, therefore, is puzzled by Victoria's resistance.
David Schmittou, a constant success at Stages, scores as Caroll "Toddy" Todd, a gay hustler and entrepreneur who befriends a bedraggled Victoria and turns her into the impersonator who becomes a star. But Todd is gay, as are a large handful of those who populate the demi-monde in Paris and Chicago. However, Schmittou plays the role with a tongue-in-cheek attitude and a twinkle in his eye, and he's a joy to watch.
However, honors among male performers goes to Steve Judkins as "Squash" Bernstein, a former Notre Dame football player who is Marchand's bodyguard. But as the play progresses we learn that he's proficient in Shakespeare, plays chess, cooks and successfully stays in the closet until the right man shows up.
The play mixes straight and gay characters throughout the cast and the evening, and a lot of the situations are quite funny. A few are less so. All in all, however, "Victor/Victoria" provides a very good evening of theater while it perhaps broadens a few horizons.
Technical values were strong. Mark Halpin's set was a delight and Lou Bird's costumes were over the top, gleaming and glittering to the ultimate. Michael Hamilton, as usual, directed stylishly, Dana Lewis' choreography was often exciting and Matthew McCarthy's lights were elegant. The sole problem arose in the second act when the sound of moving furniture backstage provided a distraction.
"Victor/Victoria" runs through Oct. 9 and concludes Stages' 25th season, which showed a solid production of "A Chorus Line," and an okay presentation of "The Secret Garden," a poor show that probably could not have been improved very much. The 2012 season opens in June with "Ain't Misbehavin'," continues in July with "The Sound of Music" and concludes in September with "My One and Only." Looking ahead, my hope for Stages is that Hamilton and Jack Lane show that they are "committed to preserving the art form of Musical Theatre" by using live musicians playing live music .
Victor/Victoria, a production of Stages St. Louis, continues at the Robert G. Reim Theatre through Oct. 9
— Joe