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ARD- AW WIN JournalismWinner Awards of 5 inN I N 2016 G . 41 $1.00 Press Club of Long Island J O NY Press Association U RN AL ol . 3, N o ISM V LONG ISLAND WEEKLY LongIslandWeekly.com OCTOBER 19 - 25 , 2016 LIW Published by Anton Media Group •
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4A LongIslandWeekly.com • October 19 - 25, 2016 • Published By Anton Media Group • 516-747-8282
THEATER Cagney: Hollywood Legend Gets His Due In Musical BY DAVE GIL DE RUBIO many hats he dons. One segment in particular [email protected] finds Benton and Creighton, having a dance-off hile most people view James that will delight anyone with even a slight appre- Cagney as the prototypical hard- ciation of tap. Ellen Zolezzi, who originated the boiled gangster affiliated with role of Cagney’s wife Willie back in 2009, fits the Golden Age of Hollywood, hand-in-glove with Creighton and Broadway Wthe musical that bears his name does yeoman’s star Danette Holden (Shrek the Musical) is also work in painting this storied actor as far more a revelation thanks to an impressive range that multi-faceted than that. Robert Creighton, who finds her going flawlessly from Ma Cagney to plays the title role, also co-wrote the music and harried Warner assistant Jane. Finally, Josh lyrics with Christopher McGovern. Coupled Walden equally shines via his turns as Cagney’s with a book by Peter Colley, Cagney is a power- trusted brother Bill and a flamboyant movie ful mix of song and dance while hop-scotching director. The pinnacle of the show comes during through the actor’s life and revealing him to be Cagney’s turn in Yankee Doodle Dandy, which a regular guy from the Lower East Side, who finds the troupe tearing into a George M. Cohan happened to be a gifted song-and-dance man medley and the “Yankee Doodle Dandy” finale. with a nose for acting. Housed within the inti- And while Cohan’s compositions make up mate confines of the Westside Theatre’s upper roughly 30 percent of the evening’s music, what level (which is roughly 200-plus seats), Cagney is all the more impressive is the fact that the is an intimate theatrical experience where props remaining songs are Creighton/McGovern orig- inals that seamlessly flow into these standards are effortlessly swapped on and off the stage for Robert Creighton (center) with the cast of Cagney settings ranging from Hollywood sound stages that date back a century plus. Cagney winds up being a throwback to Hollywood’s golden age and the site of the 1977 Screen Actors Guild do a stellar job juggling multiple roles. Bruce movie musicals tied up in a delightfully small Awards to a Hell’s Kitchen apartment and the Sabath’s turn as tyrannical studio head Jack package. Keith Music Theatre on W. 81st St. In keeping Warner winds up being the perfect villainous with the cozy confines of this production, only foil for Creighton’s everyman Cagney. Equally Cagney is playing at the Westside Theatre, six people make up the cast. While Creighton impressive as the singing and music is the depth 407 W. 43rd St. in Manhattan. For more (who bears a remarkable resemblance to the and complexity of the choreography, led by information, visit www.cagneythemusical. late thespian) only plays the lead, his castmates Jeremy Benton, whose Bob Hope is one of the com or call 212-239-6200. LONG ISLAND Restaurant Week
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LongIslandWeekly.com • October 19 - 25, 2016 • Published By Anton Media Group • 516-747-8282 3A James Cagney: Tough Guy In Tap Shoes BY DAVE GIL DE RUBIO [email protected] espite only standing 5'5", the late James Cagney stands tall in the annals of Hollywood history as the quintessential oxymoron—a cin- Dematic gangster who was a song-and-dance-man. With a career that spanned from his days on the vaudeville circuit to a storied career during the Golden Age of Hollywood, Cagney’s creative shadow loomed large right up until he died of a heart attack at the age of 86 on March 30, 1986. With the most recent nod to his legacy being the smash Off-Broadway musical Cagney, the following are some of his most notable roles. The Public Enemy (1931) The film that was Cagney’s breakthrough role featured him as Tom Powers, a youth who goes down a path of crime during the Prohibition. Based on a never-published novel by two former thugs James Cagney (far left) behind-the-scenes of 1955’s Love Me Or Leave Me with co-stars who witnessed a number Doris Day and Cameron Mitchell (Photo courtesy of Turner Classic Movies) of Al Capone-generated violence around Chicago, Love Me Or Leave Me (1955) this Daryl Zanuck production Cagney received his final Oscar nod for playing Martin “Moe the Gimp” Snyder, a featured Cagney’s infamous gangster who was also the first husband/manager of Doris Day’s nightclub singer/ scene where he mashes a dancer Ruth Etting. Day was recommended by Cagney to play the female lead in grapefruit in the face of his James Cagney pulling a fast one in 1931’s The Public this musical romantic biopic about Etting’s life. It wound up being one of Cagney’s girlfriend Kitty (Mae Clark). Enemy top five films he made and was also the last time he ever played a gangster. White Heat (1949) Angels With Dirty In his quest to break playing stereotyp- Faces (1938) ical gangsters, Cagney hadn’t played This Academy Award- one for nine years before being wooed nominated performance back to play Arthur “Cody” Jarrett, found Cagney playing the psychotic lead character whose gangster William “Rocky” dysfunctional relationship with his Sullivan, whose rise and mother dictated this performance. It also fall in the criminal world features one of the great finales for a winds up with a date doomed bad guy which features Jarrett with the electric chair. crying out, “Made it, Ma! Top of the Sullivan’s reputation world!” to his deceased mother before influences local kids Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) blowing himself up. The Dead End Kids, Cagney won his only Oscar playing the and when Cagney’s title role in this musical bio-pic about character is on the storied Broadway composer/playwright way to getting juiced, George M. Cohan. As a fellow Irish- he is convinced by Pat American who had honed his singing O’Brien’s parish priest and dancing in vaudeville, not unlike to beg for his life so as Cohan, Cagney was the perfect choice. to turn the gang’s Not only was he able to get away from James Cagney’s admiration to scorn. the gangster typecasting, but helped sociopathic Cody further popularize Cohan standards like To read a review on the Jarrett in 1949’s Off-Broadway show “Over There,” “Yankee Doodle Boy” and White Heat James Cagney (far right) with frequent co-star and close “Give My Regards to Broadway.” friend Pat O’Brien in Angels With Dirty Faces Cagney, go to page 4A. © 2016 DOUGLAS ELLIMAN REAL ESTATE. ESTATE. REAL ELLIMAN © 2016 DOUGLAS 11746. NY STATION, 631.549.7401 HUNTINGTON ROAD, 110 WALT WHITMAN Let me be the one.
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