Stage West Calgary

"Summer In The City"

The Saturday Morning "Somebody-Asked-Me-To, So-Here-I-Go" Entertainment Review:

Stage West Calgary's

"Summer In The City"

I saw The Loving Spoonful's John Sebastian perform live years ago, as the opening act for another musical icon of that era - Arlo Guthrie. Mr. Sebastian performed solo, no backup, looking more like a middle-aged accountant than the ground-breaking Woodstock musician you always saw on TV show broadcasts back then.

Regardless, as a solo act or backed up by his former band-mates, those timeless songs still came to life in concert and got the audience up out of their seats, onto their feet. Sort of like moments during last night's performance of the musical revue based on those songs from the 60's and the early 70's.

I'm reluctant to admit just how many of this era's acts I've seen in concert, but there were many of this set-list I could compare to the original artist. Which wouldn't be fair really, because this is a musical review, not a group of tribute artists, and many of the songs were re-worked to great effect.

Although not all of them...

This production relies on substantial amounts of choreography, understandable when you read the actor bios in the playbill and see all the "So You Think You Can Dance" connections. That extends to the choreographer himself, Mr. Jeff Dimitriou. Visually, this adds a whole new perspective to the show, but seems to take away a little of the element that made "British Invasion" and "Motown Gold" audience favourites. I'd chalk that up to the actors often being out of breath, as they actually perform live, unlike several famous lip-syncers I won't bother to name. In trying to keep pace with the dynamics of the dance routines, and segue from song to song, some of the selections suffered as a result. Bear in mind, there's a cast of 10 people covering around 50+ songs in a couple of hours - even someone on an oxygen tank would have needed to stop once in a while to take a breath...

By the start of the second act, the cast connected with the audience though. After a few highlights in the first part of the show, the very first song out of the gate in Act 2 had brisker applause, and cheers from the furtherest corners of the facility. By the end of the show, there was the typical standing ovation I see at almost every musical revue Stage West runs. 

I'll go into all of this in far more detail in my official Calgary Herald review (link back here when that runs), and look forward to interviewing some of the cast and creative team over the next week or so. I'll also let you know when that is available for download.

Bottom line, if you're a fan of the musical revues that Stage West does so very well, this music deserves a chance to get showcased. Some of the re-imagined arrangements are simply outstanding.

Photo Courtesy Stage West Calgary

(Chow for now)