Spotlight Cabaret Series: See You at the Movies
Featuring Tay Anderson
Winter Park Playhouse, Orlando, Florida • April 24, 2024
by Carl F. Gauze
More “Broadway’s Greatest Hits?” Shocking, I say! Shocking! Ok, no one is shocked by this wonderful musical cabaret. After all, this IS the biggest musical theater house in town.
-bm Ms. Anderson has been in more WPPH productions than normal people can count. Tonight, she goes it alone, except for the stalwart Christopher Leavey backing her on the ivories. The songs selected all come from Oscar-winning soundtracks, going back to the earliest days of L.A.’s old (and still standing) Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard.
The first tune out of the chute is “Lullaby of Broadway” from the classic 42nd Street (1933). This is one of the few pre-WWII stories that still gets productions, even with its Nazi-influenced dance number. Ms. Anderson next entertains us with “Secret Love” (Calamity Jane, 1953) a lesser-known track. Tay is careful to point out this is not the Doris Day version, but a different and possibly better arrangement. As a side note, there is nothing new or innovative in remixing music. It’s been done since the early days of musical notation.
Another theme in this show is the amount of Disney material that won awards, beginning with the 1959 “High Hopes” (A Hole in the Head) and continuing with numbers from The Lion King to Aladdin and a raft of other mousy musicals. Disney is slipping these days in the awards department, but we all hope they can return to their former glory. James Bond also presents a serious run at this project. Many of the Bond themes charted, yet few won awards.
As always, the house was packed. It’s an older crowd, but one always excited about the performance. The WPPH is now negotiating to stay in its current space going forward, after some news about the building’s owners wanting to remodel the site. That seems resolved, and it looks like WPPH will remain a fixture of the Orlando Theater scene.
Look for virtual performances of this show May 10-13, 2024.
