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Once Upon a Time in New Jersey
Book & and Lyrics by Susan DiLallo
Music by Stephan Weiner
Directed by Marc Robin
At the Marriott Theatre In Lincolnshire
Rt. 22 & Milwaukee Avenue
Lincolnshire, IL
Call 847-634-0200, tickets $42
Wednesdays at 1 & r PM
Thursdays & Fridays at 8 PM
Saturdays at 5 & 8:30 PM
Sundays at 1 & 5 PM
Running time is 2 hours 15 minutes with intermission
Through September 10, 2006
50’s New Jersey fable is cute, nostalgic and full of heart
After nine years in the making, Once Upon a Time in New Jersey is a warm, funny fairy tale that is part Bye, Bye Birdie, Grease, Happy Days with hints of Guys and Dolls, Pajama Games, Saturday Night Fever and a light ode to The Sopranos and Moonstruck. Stephen Weiner’s score has Latin rhythms including tango and mambo, with nice love songs, emotional ballads and several cute little patter songs with a pop-rock flavor that aptly depicts the 1950’s musical style.
The New Jersey Italian archetypes are in place. From the controlling Italian mother, Millie LoBiance (Paula Scrofano in fine Jersey accent) to her nerd, deli operator son, Vinnie (Jim Weitzer) who, of course, loves Angie Moscato (the golden voiced Kathy Voytko) who loves Rocco Fabrizio (Will Swenson), the Fonz type sick-haired greaser and aggressive womanizer, Once Upon a Time In New Jersey unfolds as a fresh take on familiar plots filled with bouncy tunes, rich humor and terrific comic acting featuring excellent voices.
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With Rocco falling for Celeste (Christine Sherrill), the sexy dance teacher is married to a Runyonesque gangster type, Billy (Matt Orlando) who is insanely jealous. After Rocco and Celeste have an encounter, Rocco must hide from the vengeful Billy. He persuades the nerd, Vinnie into switching identifies with him. The scenes where Rocco tries to teach Vinnie his “moves” are hilarious in the “How’d Yi Like To Be Me?” song. Rocco is the classic Italian greaser and Will Swenson has him down pat. Swenson’s best moments come as he switches to ‘become’ the nerd sandwich maker.
Add Rocco’s two chums, Tony (Norm Boucher) and Buddy (Scott Aiello) who are terrific as the goofy pals of Rocco. They land the cute song “God Knows, Mrs. LoBianco” (where they impersonate priests) with a blend of humor and style. Susan DiLallo’s book and lyrics are filled with funny wordplay and double entendres that are sexually charged yet come off as family friendly.
The show has smart humor especially in the tango dance number when Billy catches Rocco dancing with Celeste. Matt Orlando and Jim Weitzer perform the tango steps in a dance where Billy attempts to see if Rocco has really learned from Celeste’s teaching. That scene was a hoot as director/choreographer Marc Robin has the two guys do a terrific tango as land rich humor to boot. Robin’s staging makes the show zip along nicely
Christine Sherrill and Kathy Voytko sing a strong duet “A Good Job” that influences Angie to go after the man she loves.
The show’s strong ending where everyone makes peace and the lovers (Angie and Vinnie) get together was amazingly performed despite a couple of power surges that led to a loss of volume from the body microphones as well as the loss of the orchestra’s sound. In the best spirit of “the show must go on,” Paula Scrofano aptly started a cappella singing to keep the show on course. Her belting and projection set the tone for all the singers to project their songs so everyone could hear. This seamless ending was amazing to watch as the cast never flinched as they made the lack of music seem incidental. The cast landed the smart, light hearted material professionally and saved the opening night of a world premiere from disaster.
Once Upon a Time in New Jersey is a fun show filled with catchy songs, memorable characters with a pleasant fairy tale tone. You’ll like this show.
Recommended
Tom Williams
Tom99@chicagocritic.com for comments
Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast
Date Reviewed: July 12, 2006
Jeff Recommended
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