For Encore’s 25th anniversary, the first entry this year is not an underappreciated or forgotten musical. Instead, selections from nine shows which have not yet been picked for a seven performance revisit. Lucille Ball’s Wildcat from 1960 about a rugged gal who dreams of striking oil, famous for the song “Hey, Look Me Over!” titles this collection. A Hungarian immigrant engineering professor helps guide a football team in 1962’s All American, book by Mel Brooks. The 1957 Lena Horne calypso flavored vehicle Jamaica. A pair of Jerry Herman shows, Milk and Honey (1961) and Mack & Mabel (1974) wrap up the first act.
Bob Martin, the Man in Chair from The Drowsy Chaperone, is on hand to add humor between segments, thankfully. We then plow on to the second half with an opening overture from Jule Styne’s Subways Are For Sleeping (1961). The 1960 Frank Loesser flop Greenwillow about a magical town where the eldest men must heed the “call to wander” leaving their women and children behind waiting for a return. Sail Away, a 1961 Noel Coward show centering on a brash, bold American divorcee working as a hostess on a British cruise ship. Finally, the crowd pleasing George M! from 1968 wraps things up with “Give My Regards to Broadway” and some much needed tap dancing to liven up the proceedings.
Hey, Look Me Over! is entertaining in an analytical way for aficionados of musical theater. The hypothesis: despite their flaws, are these shows worth revisiting. The conclusion: mostly not. With a talented cast and a sumptuous orchestra there are high points. Reed Birney and Judy Kuhn singing “Once Upon a Time” from All American. Clifton Duncan’s soaring vocals in “Never Will I Marry” from Greenwillow. And the show which felt most revivable, Mack & Mabel, about Mack Sennett and the silent movie era. “Movies Were Movies” and “Look What Happened to Mabel” were beautifully performed by Douglas Sills and Alexandra Socha. However, a jukebox of flops, near misses or dated minor successes does not scream out for an encore in this moderately entertaining compilation.