In 2004, Nancy Taylor played “Granny” in the musical production of “70, Girls, 70″, seen here with bellboy “Eddie” (Joshua Wright), together they “stopped the show”. Read what the Houston Chronicle had to say.
“Spry Seniors Step Up in ’70, Girls, 70′ “
by Everett EvansCopyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
A convocation of Houston’s senior stage talent kicks up its heels in the concert rendition of 70, Girls, 70 at Hobby Center’s Zilkha Hall. They may not kick all that high, but the point is that they’re still kicking.
Apart from the chance of showcasing a stageful of veterans, the main reason for doing 70 is the delightful, vaudeville-tinged score by John Kander and Fred Ebb, creators of Cabaret and Chicago.
The book (by Ebb and Norman L. Martin) supplies a droll premise: Feisty seniors take to stealing furs to improve their standard of living. Yet it saddles its plot with an unnecessary and confusing show-within-the-show.
Yet as staged with dogged perseverance by Paul Hope and given lively musical direction by Dan Rutzen, 70 delivers many standout numbers and comic bits — particularly in the second act.
Sylvia Froman is ideal as ringleader Ida, her dry and knowing delivery anchoring the story. Though hampered by a faulty mike on her first song Home, she was precise and forceful in such later turns as The Elephant Song and Yes.
Charles Bailey exudes nutty energy as roguish Harry. Marge Carroll brings no-nonsense punch to Gert, scoring with See the Light, her narrative of a fabled kleptomaniac’s exploits. Charles Krohn’s disapproving Harry and Mitzi Wayne’s dithery Eunice are the golden-age lovebirds, posing the inevitable query with their teasing Do We?
A virtual sister act, Marsha Carlton (Fritzi) and Mozelle Moses-Felder (Melba) bring zippy oomph to Coffee in a Cardboard Cup and Broadway My Street. Moses-Felder also delivers a hearty Believe (leave it to Kander and Ebb to devise a spiritual as a safecracker’s inspiration) and Carlton contributes delicious clowning to Elephant Song, Ebb’s nonsensical/thoughtful musing on mortality.
As genial bellboy Eddie, the sole “kid” on hand, Joshua Wright brings supple voice and lithe moves to Go Visit Your Grandmother, teamed with Nancy Taylor’s spry Granny, matching Wright’s taps on her walker for a showstopping duet.