“Crazy for You,” the Herricks Community Players musical comedy revue of great Gershwin tunes that debuts in May, marks the first time veteran Herricks Players director John Hayes is directing a Gershwin show.
He’s done all the rest. Over a long career, he’s covered the work of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein in “Oklahoma” and Cole Porter’s “Anything Goes” several times each. But the first George and Ira Gershwin show Hayes will direct is the one going up at the Herricks Community Center on May 6 through May 22.
It’s something that Hayes, whose resume includes directing off-Broadway theater, has been wanting to do for a while.
“I love Gershwin. I’m a really big Gershwin fan.” Hayes said. “And this is my first Gershwin musical.”
On the heels of last year’s “Sugar Babies,” he wanted to do a “real family show” this time around. “And you just can’t see this kind of show on Broadway anymore,” Hayes added.
You could have seen the original ‘Crazy for You’ on Broadway in the early 1990s. It’s a musical cobbled together from four Gershwin shows with big dance numbers and classic tunes, including “Embraceable You,” “But Not For Me,” “I Got Rhythm,” “They Can’t Take That Away From Me,” and “Someone To Watch Over Me.” The four shows include “Girls Crazy,” “Damsel in Distress,” “Shall We Dance,” and “La La Lucille.”
The Herricks cast does a good job with this challenging material.
The play is a romantic comedy of mistaken identity that largely works to provide a narrative to hang those 20 Gershwin songs on. Michael Chimenti as Bobby Child and Warren Schein as “Zengler” play off each other to great comic effect in two second act scenes as Ciamente’s characters’s device to conceal his real identity inevitably unravels.
“This show’s a lot of fun,” Herricks Community Players actor Warren Schein said.
“It’s a wonderful cast. They work very, very hard,” Hayes said.
Warren Schein, whose been directed by Hayes through many productions, said this one is a particularly satisfying experience.
“It’s just a hoot,” said Jeff Rosenfeld, who plays one of the principle characters.
Accompanist Frank Sanchez said it’s also fun to play the mixed Gershwin score. “It’s great and certain classical pieces are embedded in the score. It’s fun to play,” Sanchez said.
We don’t know how George Gershwin might have changed modern American music if he had lived longer than 38 years. But “Crazy for You” gives a good survey of the music that he and his brother Ira made an enduring, endearing part of the American songbook.
The book for the musical was written by Ken Ludwig. The musical took three Tony awards for music and choreography and played 1,622 Broadway performances.
Performances at the Herricks Theater in the Herricks Community Theater at 999 Herrricks Road are on three consecutive weekends, May 6 and 7 at 8 p.m.; May 13 and 14 at 8 p.m., and May 15 at 3 p.m. May 20 and 21 at 8 p.m. and May 22 at 3 p.m.
Tickets are $22 for adults and $18 for senior citizens and children. Group discounts are also available. For information, call 516-742-1926.
