![\"Robert](\"http:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/CAGNEY-1-small-e1508864208335.jpg\")
<\/a>Robert Creighton. Photo by Carol Rosegg, as is the big one at the top of the page.<\/p><\/div>\n
I don’t often\u00a0read my program before I see a\u00a0show, so I kept wondering where they found such an absolutely perfect guy for the role\u2014an energetic, shall I say height-challenged, not-old-not-young guy, who can act, sing, tap dance, and totally command the stage! (Someone who looks just like Cagney and can tap dance as well is what I think would be the most difficult.) But when I noticed that Robert Creighton wrote many of the songs, I realized that it must be the Broadway vet’s\u00a0own project. (I found-out later that it is<\/em>! I guess I should have been a detective.)<\/p>\n I give Robert so much credit for doing that! I always joke that I<\/em> should do a show of Cher\u2019s life story (since I\u2019ve always been told that I look like her ever since I was a kid, even by several of her friends,) but I can\u2019t sing.\u00a0 And then I add\u2026neither can she<\/em>!\u00a0 (Ba-dum-bump.) [Note: But now someone actually is<\/em>!!! On Broadway! They should come to me<\/em> for authentic wardrobe, since I own so much of her old stuff. (I always got invited to her private garage sales, when I could fit into her old attire. Actually, when she and I both<\/em> could!)]<\/p>\n Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n Since I always seem to be double-and-triple-booked every night nowadays, and I really, really wanted to see this show, I chose to do something I\u2019ve never done before in LA\u2014I went to a matinee!\u00a0 Seeing it that way made me feel like I was in New York! What a fun feeling that was. I\u2019m going to try to repeat that experience whenever I can, and I suggest you do the same, if you have time during the day.<\/p>\n Now I have to get back to\u00a0raving about Cagney, The Musical<\/em>. It comes to LA straight from New York, where Robert Creighton won a Fred Astaire Award for his wonderful dancing. The show was a hit off-Broadway for over a year, so we Angelenos are just lucky that this talented cast had the stamina to continue it out here, no matter how brief the stay.<\/p>\n Photo by Carol Rosegg.<\/p><\/div>\n In addition to all the musical aspects of this show, (which I\u2019ll get to in a minute,) I was thrilled to learn so much about James Cagney! I never knew most of his story, like that he was called in to the House Un-American Activities Committee back in the day. Or just how philanthropic he was, which is a topic so relevant to our current celebrities. (But, when I did my research later, it turns-out that not all of these details are the same, like that his wife\u2019s name was really \u201cBillie,\u201d while in the show they called her \u201cWillie.\u201d And the play showed Cagney getting a SAG Award in 1978, but those awards didn\u2019t begin until 1995; I know that date for sure because I was on the second Nominating Committee. I have a feeling that latter part was distracting for no one else but me, but, as with just about every biopic I\u2019ve ever seen, I don\u2019t really know what the truth of all of those situations is, which frustrates me a bit.)<\/p>\n Photo by Carol Rosegg.<\/p><\/div>\n Even though, outside of Robert, (who is on stage almost the entire time,) it\u2019s a totally ensemble production, there are two others I must single out. I absolutely adored the light-as-air dancing of Josh Walden, who plays Jimmy\u2019s brother, (and looks just like a dancing Stephen Colbert.) And the day I saw it, understudy Karen Hyland played the role of Cagney\u2019s wife as though she goes on for every<\/em> performance; I can\u2019t imagine anyone doing it better. We didn\u2019t even think she was an understudy! [Note: A different guy than the one I saw plays Bob Hope for the rest of the run.]<\/p>\n Robert Creighton and Jeremy Benton. Photo by Carol Rosegg.<\/p><\/div>\n Best yet is that every single member of the six-person cast can really tap dance! (Duh. That\u2019s why they were cast to begin with!) I\u2019m always so amazed when tappers have other<\/em> talents, as well, like singing and acting. Tap is not just any<\/em> kind of dance\u2014it\u2019s harder, and certainly can not be faked, as some other types can, by just pointing toes and waving arms. So working on that<\/em> is hard enough in life without also singing, acting, or playing instruments. This is a very talented cast!<\/p>\n And Cagney<\/em> features my<\/em> kind of tap dance. I appreciate all forms of that art, but when I recently saw a show of a more innovative type of tapping, I found myself longing for the good old-fashioned kind, which this<\/em> is. I love it! I wish there was even more of it in the musical!<\/p>\n Part of the lobby James Cagney display. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n I actually went in expecting Cagney<\/em> to be mainly a big tap musical, but this show is so much more than that. It\u2019s really a biographical musical,\u00a0with<\/em>\u00a0tapping! The song duet, Falling In Love<\/em>, is adorable.<\/p>\n And I appreciated that the musicians are on stage for the whole show, behind a trio of movable screens, so they\u2019re occasionally visible. I feel like the sound is richer to have them up there.<\/p>\n One piece of the artwork painted by James Cagney that is on display in the lobby. What a multi-talented man he was! Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n The show goes by really fast, and is filled with humor, rather than the angst which usually comes with stories of famous people. At one point, after saying, \u201cWhat do they know,\u201d about bad reviews by film critics, a character added, \u201cNobody ever erected a statue to a critic!\u201d That made me laugh, even though I<\/em> once won a Marvy Award! (It was awarded to people who are marvelous in their field.) It\u2019s not exactly a statue, but close enough for me.<\/p>\n Cagney, The Musical<\/em> made me want to see all<\/em> of James Cagney\u2019s films, and right away! (If only I ever had time for even one of them!) The show brought to mind this change in our times\u2014back then, audiences didn\u2019t want to see Cagney do any roles other than tough guys. But nowadays<\/em>, show biz demands that you keep reinventing yourself!\u00a0 I think I liked it better the old way, because I\u2019ve<\/em> been the same since I was born!<\/p>\n The lobby bar. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n Besides loving this show, I\u2019m a fan of the venue it\u2019s playing in. The El Portal holds a special place in my heart because the lobby is where I first met Adam Lambert. (Every time we run into each other now, we hark back to that moment, when I told him that hearing him sing is a religious experience!) The lobby won\u2019t have him<\/em> in it now, of course, (although you never know in this town,) but there\u2019s some beautiful unique art work by Marjorie Sarnat on the walls. And there\u2019s also a display of paintings by none other than…James Cagney himself! Please don’t miss any of it.<\/p>\n Some of the artwork in the lobby. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n A bonus is that all the seats there have great sightlines. [Note: But they do tend to be a tad uncomfortable, (heck\u2014the place is ninety-one years old!,) so maybe bring something to prop-up behind your back.]<\/p>\n Just be warned that you\u2019re going to leave there singing songs like\u00a0You\u2019re A Grand Old Flag <\/em>and Yankee Doodle Dandy<\/em>. So you might want to wear some red, white, and blue.<\/p>\n Cagney, The Musical<\/em>\u00a0running through October 29, 2017<\/strong> CAGNEY, THE MUSICAL Everyone in Southern California must see this musical! It\u2019s the last week to do so\u2014it cannot be extended. Robert Creighton doesn\u2019t play James Cagney–he is James Cagney!!! I\u2019ve rarely seen such a complete embodiment of an icon before. \u00a0So do not miss this one! I don’t often\u00a0read my program before I see<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>
\n El Portal Theatre 5269 Lankershim Blvd. North Hollywood<\/strong>
\n 818-508-4200 www.elportaltheatre.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"