By Philip Dorian
The Playbill bios for the two “On the Town” leads could not be more dissimilar.
Megan Fairchild is a principal dancer with New York City Ballet whose credits include leading roles in George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins and Peter Martins creations. “On the Town” is her musical comedy debut.
Opposite her, Tony Yazbeck’s Broadway credits include leads in “Chicago” and “Irving Berlin’s White Christmas” as well as the role of Tulsa (“All I Need is the Girl”), which he aced in the 2008 revival of “Gypsy” (with Patti Lupone).
The two outstanding performers meet in the middle, so to speak, in “On the Town.” Each of them feeds the other a generous portion of their discrete expertise, and the result is magical. From comically antic through interpretive jazz to the lush dream ballet, they are, hands down, the best song-and-dance team on Broadway. Leonard Bernstein’s exquisite score (“NewYork, New York (a helluva town”) and a 30-piece orchestra playing it don’t exactly inhibit their efforts.
“On the Town” is at Lyric Theatre, 213 W. 42nd St., New York City. Information and tickets: 877-250-2929 or at onthetownbroadway.com.
…And Around the Corner
Something very special is happening on West 43rd Street. American poet Emily Elizabeth Dickinson, reclusive during her lifetime (1830-1886), is opening up to a select group, sharing her thoughts, dreams and snippets of her poetry in the person of Joely Richardson. You are encouraged to join that group at a performance of “The Belle of Amherst.”
Largely unpublished during her lifetime, the prolific poet’s output wasn’t published as written until 1955. In 1976, William Luce wrote the one-woman play for Julie Harris, who went on to play it off-and-on for many years. Ms. Richardson honors the legacies of Ms. Harris and Emily Dickinson with a stunning performance.
Luce specializes in one-person plays based on real people, among them Charlotte Bronte and John Barrymore. I hope that he, now 83, is able to see Richardson, whose seamless meshing of his words with aptly quoted portions of Dickinson’s verse re-establish the play as a work of creative genius. Ms. Richardson is mesmerizing.
(Equally enthralling to me was eavesdropping on the post-show conversation she had with a bus-tour group from the Dickinson Museum in Amherst. Joely is as charming as is her Emily.)
Either show is an ideal NYC December excursion…or a splendid gift-ticket idea.
“The Belle of Amherst” is at Westside Theatre, 407 W. 43rd St., New York City. Information and tickets: 212-239-6200 or at Telecharge.com.
