ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT BY IRV RIKON

"THE WORLD GOES ROUND"

AT THE KRAVIS CENTER

REVIEW OF REVUE BY IRV RIKON

 

          "What good is sitting alone in your room?

          Come hear the music play.

          Life is a cabaret, Old Chum.

          Come to the Cabaret!"

 

          Those words come from the stage play and movie "Cabaret," its music and lyrics written by John Kander and Fred Ebb, who also wrote hit songs for such shows as "Chicago" and "New York, New York".   Some of their songs were turned into a revue, "The World Goes Round".  At the Rinker Playhouse in the KRAVIS CENTER complex, this thoroughly enjoyable show, worthy of a very long run, can be seen locally only through August 21.

      

          It's produced by Marcie Gorman Althof and Michael Lifshitz's MNM Productions.  Previously they presented winners with "A Chorus Line," "Side by Side by Sondheim" and "Hair".  As good as those shows were, with every outing, the team seems to be getting better and better.

 

          In "The World Goes Round" each one of 28 songs is given its own mini-skit.  All are imaginative, mostly funny with perhaps a touch of poignancy, and delightful.  The cast excels.  Jinon Deeb, Leah Sessa, Shelley Keelor, Michael Scott Ross and Clay Cartland can act, sing, speak in dialects, dance, and roller skate.  They're also good looking!  (That includes young skater Olivia Rose Chiampou.)

 

          Director Bruce Linser keeps everything moving.  Kimberly Dawn Smith's choreography is often sweet and sometimes challenging for the performers.  One finds one's self asking, "What?  They can do that, too?"   Kudos go to Musical Director Paul Reekie and the four other musicians in his fine band.  Production Stage Manager   Mikel Gambuto has chairs and tables placed in front of the stage to make the set look like a cabaret.  The entire crew deserves applause.

 

          This is a fun show with high energy and many highlights.  "All That Jazz," "Ring Them Bells," and the solid belting of "Maybe This Time" certainly caught my fancy.  Fred Ebb wrote the lyrics, but the entertainment never ebbs.  Everyone involved in the production fully deserved the standing ovation that came at show's end.  Try to see this one!