The straightforwardopening act offers a celebration of old Hollywoodmusicals. It’s set in the lobby of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in the 1930s. Incostumes designed by Shima Orans, who did a breathtaking job on Skylight’srecent production of South Pacific,the ensemble will perform a musical revue that pays tribute to films of theera. The cast mixes Skylight favorites like Norman Moses and Ray Jivoff withnewer stars like Molly Rhode and Chase Stoeger.
This first act shouldoffer plenty of fun, as the Skylight does an excellent job of bringing acinematic feel to the Broadway Theatre Center’sCabot Theatre. With a cast of nine, A Dayin Hollywood will be just the right size to create a sweeping yet intimateperformance that connects to the audience.
The show switches gearsin the second act with A Night in theUkraine, a musical inspired by Anton Chekhov’s 19th-century farce The Bear.The twist is that it’s done in the style of a stage musicalfeaturing the Marx Brothers. Jivoff and Moses play Harpo and Groucho,respectively. The Marx Brothers are, in turn, playing roles in the story, whichactually makes a lot of sense, because much of their work was commediadell’arte by way of vaudeville. The Marx Brothers played themselves playingcharacters in their films, so allowing others to also play those vaudevilliancharacters is fair play.
Jivoff and Moses haveinhabited these roles before, most recently in Skylight’s production of Animal Crackers. Die-hard fans of theMarx Brothers may have a hard time accepting actors portraying them on thestage; in the context of the current musical, however, it should beinteresting. A blend of ancient Russian farce and pseudo-contemporary musical,combined with the kind of production standards Milwaukee has come to expectfrom the Skylight Opera Theatre, should make for a pleasant, perhaps evenintoxicating, overall experience.
A Day in Hollywood/ANight in the Ukraine runs March 12-April 4 at the Broadway Theatre Center.
