Theatre Review: My One & Only

The Muny's sixth show, running from July 28 to August 3, My One & Only, is a cute show. Stupid, but cute.

Written in the 1980s, its plot is centered on classic Gershwin tunes such as "Nice Work If You Can Get It," "Funny Face," and " 'S Wonderful." Overall, this causes any hint at the well-written play to go out the window, sacrificed for pleasant music and lots of tap.

Oh - and as my grandfather said, "If you're not a fan of tap, just stay home." Aptly put. Originally a vehicle for the great dancer Tommy Tune, this show is not wanting for tap dancing. "High Hat" has a great dance number by the male ensemble, and " 'S Wonderful" has a delightful dance duet by Meredith Patterson and Dirk Lumbard as the leading lady and her airborne beau, Edythe Herbert and Captain Billy Buck Chandler.

Ms. Patterson is elegant as Edyth Herbert, a famous (British?) English Channel-crossing swimmer who works for Russian Prince Nicolai as his star swimmer. She doesn't actually love him or even want to work for him, but apparently some naughty photographs of her in his possession keep her close to him. Whatever.

Mr. Lumbard looks like a giant child as the toe-tapping Captain Bill Buck Chandler, whose dream is being the first to cross the Atlantic Ocean solo in an airplane (or as he calls it, aeroplane). Ms. Patterson smoothly talks him out of any plans of being the first, the greatest, or the biggest, but when she leave him for the Prince (again those danged nudey photos!), he quickly resumes his desire to be the first to cross the Atlantic solo.

The New Rhythm Boys, with their own fascinating rhythm in three-part harmony, serve absolutely no purpose that I can gather, other than to "bum bum bum" and toe-tap and smile their way through two-and-a-quarter hours. They appear almost exclusively during scene changes, or when no other dramatic action occurs, except for a brief scene at a movie theatre where it takes all three of them to sell a small bag of popcorn to Ms. Patterson and Mr. Lumbard.

At the other end, Mr. Magix, played by Eugene Fleming, serves as a convenient mentor, available whenever the playwright needs him. I consciously thought at one point that Mr. Fleming would never get out of his barbershop chair (which would have been pretty cool), but he did, to show Mr. Lumbard how to tap his way into Ms. Patterson's heart (awww). Mr. Fleming was my favorite actor of the evening.

Mr. Magix is not the only deus-ex-machina in the show. At one point, Mr. Lumbard's handy mechanic Nicky, played by the adorable Julyana Soelistyo, reveals that she's a G-Man! GASP! And, what's more, Ms. Patterson's horrible boss, Prince Nicolai, is actually a Soviet spy intent on bringing down the western world by preventing American pilots from being the first to cross the Atlantic Ocean solo! Double GASP! But rest assured, in the world of musical comedy, even the G-Man and the Commie can fall in love.

Like I said, it's stupid, but cute.