Danny and Sylvia: The Danny Kaye Musical is a heartfelt tribute to the well-known comedian and the significant contribution of his lesser-known wife.
What This Show Is About
Danny and Sylvia: The Danny Kaye Musical is well-summarized by its title. It’s the story of how Sylvia Fein met, married and made Danny Kaye into the star he was, but it is Danny’s musical all the way through.
The off-Broadway musical opens 10 years into Danny Kaye’s thus far inconsequential career. Then he meets (or re-meets) Sylvia Fein, who helps him develop a foundation of discipline from which to launch his improvisational comic genius.
But Sylvia has composing, writing and business talent of her own. Not surprisingly, Kaye chafes knowing the world knows Sylvia made him a star, and Sylvia resents his growing desire to make his own mark.
Who’s Who and What’s What
There’s a lot to like about this two-hour show. First, it was written by Kaye’s longtime publicist Robert McElwaine, so we get to see some of that brilliance that made Kaye a star of stage, screen and TV. Watching Brian Childers bring Kaye to life, particularly at the London Palladium, you get the sense his style may have influenced the Monty Python crew and certainly influenced Nathan Lane. For those of us who grew up watching Kaye on TV, knowing we were seeing something special but not knowing him from beloved film roles, Danny and Sylvia is a nice reminder of a genius at work.
Unfortunately, several aspects of the opening-night show made the going tough. A follow spot that couldn’t keep up with the fast-paced stage movement and a sound system with a grating scratch in its electronic throat didn’t help.
Childers’ had the ability to mimic Kaye’s frenetic movements, but at this show at least, his voice couldn’t cover the range in the old songs by greats like Gershwin or the new ones by Bob Bain and McElwaine.
Finally, the abrupt ending makes the show feel more like a review with stories between the songs than a full-up musical.
There’s something here to be sure. Kaye is an engaging and, today, under-appreciated talent. Sylvia Fein, portrayed with the right amount of moxie by Kimberly Fay Greenberg, deserves to have her story told as well. Hopefully future productions will flesh their stories out.
Where and When
- St. Luke’s Theatre
308 West 46th Street
- Show Times and Tickets
- Opening: May 13, 2009
- Closing: Open-ended run
- Run Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes (with intermission)
- Genre: Musical
- Advisories: None