The show: “The World Goes ‘Round,” at the Virginia Samford Theatre through Sept. 22. A musical revue of songs by John Kander and Fred Ebb, the songwriting team behind “Chicago,” “New York, New York,” “Cabaret,” “Kiss of the Spider Woman” and more. Directed by Jan D. Hunter with musical direction by Debbie Mielke, vocal direction by Joycelyn Whatley, set design by T. Gary Weatherly, costume design by Diane Faulkner, lighting design by Caleb Stroman, sound design by Colin O’Brien.
The cast: Chris Carlisle, Kristi Tingle Higginbotham, Hannah Kuykendall, Sam Torres and Lydia Yates.
The band: Sarah Freed, Colin Zuckerman, Joe Cooley, Maury Levine, Matthew Barron, Sarah Williams and Ian Ellis.
The highlights: This revue, a true musical revue, is filled with some of the best songs written for the stage, and Hunter has put together a cast of terrific singers, so the highlights are aplenty. A few favorites: Yates kicking things off with a stellar ‘And the World Goes ‘Round,” Carlisle’s charming “Mr. Cellophane,” Kuykendall’s beautiful “A Quiet Thing,” Torres’ booming “Kiss of the Spider Woman” (despite a mic that didn’t cooperate) and Higginbotham’s stirring “How Lucky Can You Get.”
And more: So many others, including beautiful duets (Torres and Carlisle, Higginbotham and Yates), a trio on “Trio” (Torres, Yates and Higginbotham) and some mighty fine tap dancing from Carlisle and Kuykendall. Mielke’s orchestra is superb, and Weatherly’s set is pure class, setting the perfect tone for the evening. Some of Ebb’s lyrics are out of date and don’t land well (references to Kitty Kelley and “Read my lips” come to mind), but the songs for the most part are the stars of the show.
Bottom line: Hunter has put together a wonderful evening of song and dance – some of theater’s best-loved songs performed by some of Birmingham’s most talented musical theater performers. Two hours of sheer fun.
“The World Goes ‘Round,” through Sept. 22 at the Virginia Samford Theatre.
