By William Wolf

ALLEGRO  Send This Review to a Friend

The Classic Stage Company has done a service in reviving the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “Allegro” in a new version directed and designed by creative John Doyle. The result is a charmer, especially with, as is Doyle’s specialty, cast members playing instruments in providing the Richard Rodgers music as well as singing the lyrics and playing the assorted characters of Oscar Hammerstein II’s book. “Allegro” was poorly received when it appeared in 1947, but it has had its advocates. This pared production provides a birds-eye view of the work.

The story involves the childhood to adulthood trajectory of Joseph Taylor Jr., played engagingly by Claybourne Elder, who gets away with depicting the younger years convincingly. We watch him grow up and become a doctor, following in the footsteps of his noted father (Malcolm Gets). The story has its moral issue. Joseph would rather do good and savor hometown pleasures than be rich and successful in bustling Chicago.

Joe marries Jenny (Elizabeth A. Davis), the sweetheart from his childhood, and her ambitions point him in the direction he doesn’t wish to go. Much more attuned to him is a nurse , played by Jane Pfitsch. The book has down-home quality inherently favorable to the simple, decent life of solid values.

But it isn’t the book that resonates most in this revival. It is the score and the talent of the cast putting over the songs and playing the instruments. Under Doyle’s direction, the cast members at times look like itinerant musicians, as they roam about the small stage area with seeming ease.

The show has an engaging flow to it in its present form, eschewing more ambitious staging for the low-key intimacy achieved. Others cast in various roles include Alma Cuervo, Maggie Lakis, Paul Lincoln, Megan Loomis, Randy Redd, Ed Romanoff and Jessica Tyler Wright. The effect achieved is that of a well-tuned ensemble.

“The Gentleman is a Dope” remains the best known song, but there is lots of appealing music well-sung by the cast. It can’t be easy to find performers also expert on their chosen instruments. But here is a success story with justice is done in part by Mary-Mitchell Campbell via her musical direction and orchestrations building on the original orchestrations by Robert Russell Bennett and original choral arrangements by Crane Calder. Original dance arrangements were by Trude Rittman. At the Classic Stage Company (CSC), 136 East 13th Street. Phone: 212-352-3101 or 866-811-4111. Reviewed November 21, 2014.

  

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