Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The arid revival of HIGH BUTTON SHOES concludes a curiously uneven Encores! season

• By drediman
• May 9, 2019
• No Comments

The company of the Encores! revival of “High Button Shoes” at New York City Center. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Last night at New York City Center, I caught the opening night performance of the Encores! revival of the 1947 musical High Button Shoes. Ever since obsessing over the original cast album of Jerome Robbins’ Broadway (a Tony-winning musical compilation featuring a couple of highlights from High Button Shoes) as a young theater fan, I had been wanting to experience this rarely-performed musical about the madcap adventures of a con artist performed live in its entirety. Thanks to the indispensable Encores! series, I finally got that chance.

There’s a reason High Button Shoes isn’t performed very often. While the show does have a charming score by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn, it pretends to be nothing more than pure fluff (the silly book is by Stephen Longstreet). Luckily, Mr. Styne’s music is buoyantly played by the always excellent 27-piece Encores! orchestra, led onstage per usual by music director Rob Berman. The only other reason to see this Encores! revival is to witness Jerome Robbins’ witty and bright original choreography (for which he won his first Tony), which has been winningly recreated by Sarah O’Gleby (The “Bathing Beauty Ballet” at the top of Act 2 is a complete delight and almost worth the price of admission in itself).

Unfortunately, everything else about the revival, which has been directed by the typically reliable John Rando, is uninspired and falls  flat. Curiously, the cast is devoid of life and chemistry – failing to make even the smallest case for the musical – despite the presence of some well-credentialed performers. Even the charismatic Michael Urie in the central role of Floy (i.e., the aforementioned con artist) seems lost in the arid production, despite working in overdrive mode as if to compensate for the lack of pep from nearly all of the principal players. It’s been a surprisingly uneven season for Encores!, with this revival of High Button Shoes being the low point. It’s not that terrible (there’s still the stellar orchestra and the fabulous choreography), but just okay for this marquee series isn’t nearly good enough. Let’s hope its Off-Center productions this summer fare better.

SOMEWHAT RECOMMENDED

HIGH BUTTON SHOES
Off-Broadway, Musical
Encores! at New York City Center
2 hours, 20 minutes (with one intermission)
Through May 12