The story goes that composer-lyricist Maury Yeston wrote “New Words” for his son. If true, I’m not certain I’ve ever heard a more touching song ever written by a father for a son. As the singer introduces the young boy to the words “moon,” “stars” and “love,” it’s not unlikely that anyone listening to the affectionate outpouring will get just the least bit teary. (I do whenever I’m lucky enough to hear the tune.)
Without question, that’s the effect Benjamin Eakeley has when, casually seated on a stool, he delivers it one-third of the way through Anything Can Happen in the Theater: The Musical World of Maury Yeston. For me, those quiet several moments are the highlight of a revue directed by wry musical commentator Gerard Alessandrini and featuring, along with the very proficient Eakeley, the also proficient Alex Getlin, Justin Keyes, Mamie Parris, and Jovan E’Sean.
Somehow, the highlights among the 22 songs included in this Yeston round-up aren’t quite as high as “New Words.” And since round-ups often prompt thoughts on an artist’s career, that seems a handy opportunity here—keeping in mind that “New Words” is clearly written directly from the heart.
[Read Melissa Rose Bernardo’s ★★★ review here.]
Yeston is best known for three Broadway musicals of valid note—Grand Hotel (to which he added music and lyrics), Nine, and Titanic. Each is, of course, an adaptation: a significant fact. There’s no saying that scores for adaptations can’t be heart-felt. Many are, of course.
Yeston’s, however, don’t give that impression. Though he’s snagged Tonys for his Nine and Titanic work, too often it seems that he’s composing to a pristine blueprint and coming up with the type of material that must fit the articulated design. To an extent, he’s mirroring similar ditties from predecessor pieces.
At reaching that goal, he’s undeniably adept. Just about everything in Anything Can Happen in the Theater is entertaining as it’s being performed—and bouncily choreographed by Gerry McIntyre. But the cumulative results aren’t necessarily what you want to rush home and hear again on a cast album. The tune you’re humming as you exit the theater could just as well be something from another musical. Incidentally, the closest thing to a standard that Yeston has written is “Unusual Way,” the very character-driven ballad from Nine that Parris, a strong soprano, handles extremely well
Especially worth the stage time on James Morgan’s stylishly simply set is “I Had a Dream About You” from Yeston’s song cycle December Songs and sung amiably by E’Sean. There are also the ribald “Salt n’ Pepper” that Keyes gives pelvis energy, “The Mardi Gras Ball” from The Queen of Basin Street (wherein Yeston rhymes “Mardi Gras” with “la-di-da”), “Feet” from In the Beginning, and “Home” from Phantom, which is an adaptation with Arthur Kopit of the public domain you-know-what. Another solid click is “Danglin’,” a torch song that Getlin sells with acting artifice.
In compiling Anything Can Happen in the Theater, Yeston and Alessandrini may have made a mistake by not gathering songs from the same show into a sequence. That would help explain the context in which the songs are placed. Knowing what’s happening in the plot could meaningfully substantiate the pertinent lyric. If “Halloween,” a blues Keyes does nicely, is from one of the unproduced Yestons, an explanation about its purpose might vitiate its strangeness. (Greg Jarrett, at the lone piano, offers straightforward accompanying, though the occasional more elaborate arrangement wouldn’t harm anything.)
Anything Can Happen in the Theater ends with the only Titanic inclusion. It’s the title song, and you do have to wonder about ending a supposedly upbeat enterprise with a song about a vehicle that’s fated to sink.
Anything Can Happen in the Theater opened December 5, 2019, at the York Theatre and runs through December 29. Tickets and information: yorktheatre.org
