An Exercise In American Musical Theater Antiquity!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                           When I was collecting Original Broadway Cast albums on vinyl, "Milk And Honey" was especially memorable for three reasons.  The first was it being composer Jerry Herman's first Broadway show, with even greater triumphs to follow.  The second was the song "Shalom," which I had known years before from having sung it when in one of the school choruses.  And the third was whenever I played it Robeert Weede's voice was so loud it almost hurt my ears.  Hence, I did not play it too often.

                               I never imagined ever seeing "Milk And Honey" performed, because, while many of Herman's musicals have been revived, and I have seen them. "Milk And Honey" never turned up on the revival circuit.  I do not think even ENCORES! has done it!

                                 But there is an Off-Broadway group called "The J2 Spotlight Musical Theater Company."  They have been around longer than I was aware and have done some ambitious projects like "The Baker's Wife."  I look forward to what they may do in the future.

                                    However, and this is a BIG however, I cannot vouch for the quality of what you might see.  What got me in to see this production was not necessarily "Milk And Honey" but that Neva Small, a Legend Of The American Musical Stage, was playing Clara Weiss, a role originated by Molly Picon.

                                        Neva was the best thing amid a subpar company and production.  Especially unfortunate was that Kelly Lester and Eric Michael Gillett, who played the leads, Ruth and Phil, did not have strong enough voices to sing the score.  Neva and the ensemble were superb, but when the two leads are lacking, the show is in trouble.  Not to mention it was done on a stage with limited space so Oren Kornblum really risked doing Agnes DeMille like balletic moves choreographically on a stage where I was afraid the dancers might bump into one another.  Darlings, do not even TRY to do "A Chorus Line" on this stage!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                           And the show is a dated period peace.  On one hand, it concerns a bunch of Jewish widows going to Israel to look for new husbands!  Can you believe that?  And they all talk in faux Jewish NYC accents, straight out of a Neil Simon play!!!!!!!!!!!!   The title tune is a salute to Israel; in this age, with all the trouble going on over there?  Still, it looks back on a simpler time, a time that, sadly has been eradicated forever.

                                            There is also the love story between Ruth and Phil which is straight out of Arthur Laurents' play "The Time Of The Cuckoo," which became the 1955 David Lean film "Summertime," starring Katherine Hepburn.  Later, on March 18, 1965, Richard Rodgers and Stephen Sondheim musicalized it as "Do I Hear A Waltz?"  The score, needless to say, was better.

                                              When David and I saw "Milk And Honey," last week, , it was the next to last performance.  Despite its shortcomings, for me it was worth seeing a show I may otherwise never have seen.  The show was directed by Robert W. Schneider, the company's founder, or one of them, and while he knows how to move and place his actors, giving the limitations, this was an ambitious undertaking, and he and everyone deserve credit for this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                 But for Musical Theater Historians and aficionados, keep an eye on future company productions.  It will give one a chance to see shows otherwise never staged, and that, in itself is a value.

                                                   But do NOT expect to see Sondheim's "FOLLIES."

                                                   Despite Weede's voice almost blowing one's ears, the Original Broadway Cast Album is the best way to sample "Milk And Honey."  It will give you a glimpse into a long-forgotten time.