By far the best performance in this production is that of Cynthia Dunbar as Alice Miller, one of the other comedy writers. To be fair, Alice gets most of this show's best lines ("Sy, these jokes are old enough to vote") and it is probably not a coincidence that the New York reviewers liked the actress who played Alice the best as well. The expansion of Alice's role is one welcome change from the movie and Dunbar plays the wise-cracking dame to perfection.
Julian Chu is excellent as Alice's boss, Sy Benson. His manic ravings are hysterically funny, particularly when he and the rest of the writing team act out "The Musketeer Sketch" for King Kaiser, the star of Comedy Cavalcade. Equally admirable is Vanessa Livingston as Belle Steinberg Carroca, Benjy's mother. Decked out in terrifically tacky costumes, Livingston plays the perfect Brooklyn matron without relying on a heavy accent or overdone mannerisms. Angelina Zappia is also good as the pleasantly earnest Downing.
On a more discordant note are Vikram Savkar as King Kaiser and Tim Ford as Alan Swann. Savkar sings fine and tries hard but he is simply miscast. Kaiser is supposed to be an egomaniac television star who terrorizes everyone--Savkar seems more like the nice kid next door with a paper route. Ford's performance is more problematic. His voice is negligible and his acting isn't much better. This sort of one-note performance would be less noticeable in a minor character but in someone who is supposed to carry as much presence and pizzazz as Swann is, it is disastrous. Director Susan Livingston is partly to blame for either casting Ford in the first place or not rehearsing him enough.
The orchestra and chorus are both surprisingly strong for such a small show and both music director Jefferson Packer and vocal director Thomas Malaby should be commended. If the choreography by Vanessa Livingston has a tendency to rely a lot on drill team-like hand gestures, well, it's tough to do much else in much a small space.
Costume designer Betty McNally has worked wonders. From Belle's purple beaded coat to Downing's prim sweaters and pleated skirts to the glamorous yet tawdry gowns of the chorus girls, McNally has captured 1950s America perfectly. In several scenes, Belle's shoes are more interesting than anything else happening on stage.
The set is effective, if less elaborate than the costumes. Designers Kenni Feinberg and Maura Henry rely largely on a fuzzy Manhattan skyline for a backdrop with moveable triangular flats on either side. Together with lighting designer Matthew Duhan, they have done a credible job of turning the Cabot Junior Common Room into a theater.
My Favorite year is not the worst musical ever written and Cabot's enthusiastic presentation of it succeeds admirably in almost all respects. As an alternative to the straight plays going up this weekend, it should certainly merit consideration. Just drink a little firs.