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Show City Rep's 'My One and Only' takes chances, makes them work By TOM HA R ALPS EN Perhaps the part of " My One and Only," City Rep's final production of the current season, that I enjoyed en-joyed best was that it took some chances, and made them work. When City Rep finally found its long-sought-for home in the Utah Theatre on Main Street in Salt Lake City, it gave its cast some leeway in how productions were staged. "My One and Only" makes the best of those chances. The musical of George and Ira Gershwin won a Tony when it opened in May of 1983 on Broad- audience, and a beachfront scene between Billy and Edythe, in which Davis and O'Haley actually wade in and kick up water from a makeshift pool on the stage (the orchestra rolls out a plastic covering cover-ing to keep dry during this madness), mad-ness), was a marvelous touch. "My One and Only" features plenty of tap-dancing, perhaps a little lit-tle too' much at times, but it showcases show-cases the talents of the City Rep regulars who are a part of it. Davis does a fine job as Billy, playing off the beautiful and talented O'Haley in fine fashion (and the lucky guy even gets to kiss Jennifer a lot). by Owen Richardson, who brought the audience lots of laughs with his "slurring" of the English language using a Russian accent. Another Bountiful resident, veteran Jansen Davis, is wonderful as the Reverend J. D. Montgomery. He even waxes poetic in one scene when, preaching to his congregation, congrega-tion, he thanks the Lord for "forgiving "for-giving human beings for being human." Former Salt Lake disc jockey Donald Packard does a credible job as Mr. Magix, owner of a speakeasy where Billy goes for advice on how to win Edythe's .,, ' . : ::' ". . : - - . . ' ' . " i ' ' Iv ; -f -2 -.s . ; - ' j f-:. -c'r AV-V , - : ' V --: 'A i : - - - ' : ' ; """ - ' - ; 'XJ) I, "f ill ' ' ' -rf- ,-iiiV.-4 v , i . . i .... j."1 Bountiful's Doug Davis and Jansen Davis are j Q among cast members in "My One and Only." I way, with Tommy Tune and Twiggy Twig-gy in the lead roles. It is the story of aviator Captain Billy Buck Chandler, Chand-ler, played by Bountiful native Doug Davis, who falls in love with English Channel swimmer and Aquacade star Edythe Herbert, portrayed by Jennifer O'Haley. Like most musicals, it is predictable predict-able and yields an expected ending, but what City Rep has added here is a fourth dimension to the play. The cast occasionally plays off the O'Haley adds her melodic voice to a number of Gershwin tunes, adding to her fine acting. They are, however, far from the only two stars of this show. Cathy W. Kelly, a City Rep veteran, is marvelous as Mickey, Billy's mechanic who is secretly an undercover under-cover FBI agent investigating Prince Nikki, Russian owner and promoter of the Aquacade who thwarts Billy's efforts to win Edythe's heart. Nikki is portrayed heart. And another audience favorite favo-rite was the Ritz Quartette, made up of Terry Spencer, Jeff Ostler, Richard Berrett and Thomas Wal-dron. Wal-dron. Orchestra conductor Richard Chatelain and his musicians do a fine job with the music from "My One and Only," much of which was actually written by the Ger-shwins Ger-shwins in the '20's and '30's. A fine supporting cast of dancers makes this musical a fun evening of entertainment. enter-tainment. "My One and Only" closes this weekend, with a 7:30 p.m. per- Cathy Kelly is Mickey (alias FBI agent Lucy Ann Fergusson) and Owen Richardson is Prince Nikki in City Rep's performance of "My One and Only," which features Bountiful's Doug Davis and concludes its run this Friday and Saturday at the historic Utah Theatre. formance on Friday and a 2 p.m. matinee Saturday at the Utah ' Theatre, 148 S. Main Street. Information Infor-mation is available at 532-6000. ;3? .! 'SI-1 -is' : Si? lflSt: . :WSiM iLayton's Susan Parker, shown kneeling, is part of the group i"Party Line," sponsored by U.S. West Communications, that jperformed in a Liberty Park July 24 celebration on Monday. |
