Overheard in the audience: "This show would go over really well in Palm Springs." I didn't say anything, but that was exactly what I was thinking. Hollywood has enough age discrimination, and by no means do I want to encourage that. Further, the problems with this presentation of Lorenz Hart's tragic life through the songs that made him famous have less to do with age and more to do with safety—the kind of polished safety that goes over well in places like Palm Springs.
Singer Gogi Grant and actor Bill Hayes intersperse the songs of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart with the telling of Hart's life story—one of Broadway's great tragic tales. Born small with a physically large head, a Jew in a Christian world, and gay in a time that considered homosexuality a dangerous aberration, Hart still cranked out some of the most enduring lyrics ever written before dying of complications from alcoholism in November 1943. Hart's work was in service to the shows for which he and Rodgers wrote. Even so, many of his lyrics reflected his personal struggles, even though the songs as a whole did not.
We've heard the vast majority of the tunes performed. Grant argues that "My Funny Valentine" is the best known. Excuse me, what about "The Lady Is a Tramp"—perhaps the most glaring omission of the evening?
Then there is Hayes. Not that he isn't a wonderful singer, but he's so perfectly polished and yet so dim that he exudes more ego than anything else. While he reminded me more of that dense egomaniac Ted Baxter from The Mary Tyler Moore Show (played by the late Ted Knight), it turns out Hayes' day job is playing Doug Williams on the NBC soap Days of Our Lives. Hayes shows off some pretty decent hoofing while singing "I Need Some Cooling Off," yet most of the time his moves are more like a dad trying to be hip and not quite getting it.
Grant plays into the safety, especially initially, but fortunately as Hart's life story begins its downward spiral, she puts some real heart into the tunes. Without question, she's still got what it takes. True, given her occasional straining, her pipes ain't what they used to be, and I can't help but be sad for that. On the other hand, most people can't sing as well as she does even in their primes.
The show, co-directed by Betty Garrett and William Mead, could have been shorter and a number of tunes dropped, but then there's the dilemma of what to drop? If there's any such thing as a bad Rodgers and Hart tune (and I'm sure there is), I'd be hard pressed to find it. But the one thing about Lorenz Hart was that he didn't settle for nice and safe. Too bad Grant and Hayes do.
"Glad To Be Unhappy: The Lyrical Life of Lorenz Hart," presented by and at Theatre West, 3333 Cahuenga Blvd. West, Los Angeles. Thurs.-Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. Nov. 24-Dec. 17. $20. (323) 851-7977.