'A Night on Broadway: A Musical Review' at Post University - My Review

The Post Theatrical Players will present A Night on Broadway: A Musical Review in the Eagle's Nest on their Waterbury campus. The show is sponsored by Post University and the first 120 people to arrive will get a seat, so go early. The cast is made up of some Post students and faculty and other talented community theater people. I was invited to attend the final dress rehearsal before the show opens on Friday, May 2. Although the cast had never run the entire show before due to the busyness of the end of the academic year, they worked together and pulled it off.

Bob Tansley once again directs the small group of players. He serves as the musical review's announcer and introduces each musical number; he even surprises the audience with an appearance onstage to sing "Standing on the Corner" with the guys in the cast. This was a song that Mr. Tansley had sung with his father and he dedicates the show to his father Clarence and his uncle, Joseph Santoro, both of whom have recently passed away.

The show is a great mix of Broadway show tunes that give the members of the cast a chance to shine. The 19 numbers are from a dozen different shows and run the musical gamut, with solo pieces, duets, and full cast numbers. The featured show is Hairspray; I enjoyed all four songs from this show. Overall, the vocal performances are excellent.

From Chicago, faculty member Abby Nemec sings "When You're Good to Mama," Kelly Marchand does "All I Care About is Love," and Toby Henst performs "Mr. Cellophane." Carolyn Fisher leaves the orchestra to solo on "Gimme, Gimme" from Thoroughly Modern Millie and "They Say It's Wonderful" from Annie Get Your Gun. Colleen Rush performs a beautiful solo on "Someone Like You" from Jekyll & Hyde and Musical Director Thankful Meo Burt partners with Dean of Students Erica Peryga for "In His Eyes." Ms. Meo Burt and Ms. Fisher also do a duet on "I Know Him So Well," from a little known musical called Chess.

The multi-talented Ben Orlando and the company acted a scene from Rocky Horror to sing "Sweet Transvestite." Mr. Orlando also donned some padding and curlers to sing "Timeless to Me" as Edna Turnblad with community theater veteran Pat Hearn as Wilbur. These two were a riot together, especially when they returned for the finale "You Can't Stop the Beat." I couldn't stop smiling.

Sara Hart (Rizzo in Grease) donned some green makeup to sing flawlessly "Defying Gravity" from my beloved Wicked with Christine Sciongay as Glinda. Ms. Hart is equally amazing in her rendition of "My Strongest Suit" from the show Aida. Ms. Hart also pairs up with Toby Henst to sing "Suddenly Seymour" from Little Shop of Horrors. These two young people need to audition for some community theatre productions as soon as they can. I also hope to see Ms. Rush, who is quite adorable as Tracy Turnblad, in some local productions very soon.

Ebony Washington, a senior at Post, does a super job with "I Know Where I've Been" from Hairspray  as Motormouth Maybelle, with the company backing her up as the other characters from the show.  The company opens the second act with "Seasons of Love" from Rent and Ms. Hart takes the solo beautifully. Ms. Sciongay acts as Belle in "A Change in Me" from Beauty and the Beast. The director's daughter Brooke Tansley has sung this one lots of times. Joshua Moses, Kyana Sams, Andrea Akanmu, Rayale Faison, and Lauren Gelati round out the cast.

And Mr. Tansley? He was a natural in "Standing on the Corner" from The Most Happy Fella and the guys backed him up perfectly, especially Mr. Hearn. I am so glad that this director always tries to find a part for this charming actor.

There were a ton of costume/wig changes and the costumes were designed by Jennifer Tansley. Sara Hart designed the great set and Ben Orlando provided the happy choreography. Keith Wilson is the other Musical Director/Conductor and plays sax in the orchestra. Eric Wilson covers percussion, Ms. Meo Burt and Ms. Fisher play keyboard and provide the pit vocals.