Magnificent 'Nights'

'Nights on Broadway III' brings plenty of bling-bling to the Boardwalk
Source: The Atlantic City Weekly
By Lori Hoffman



THIS IS GETTING TO BE a pleasurable routine: to declare, once again, that the latest Nights on Broadway raises the bar for Atlantic City revues. If this keeps up we'll need the space shuttle to reach the heights attained at Caesars Circus Maximus Theater.

If you have a preconceived notion about Atlantic City revue shows as being cost-efficient, bus patron-friendly, and with less than topnotch talent -- FUGETABOUTIT! Nights on Broadway III is an evening of fabulous numbers from Broadway's present and past, performed by Broadway-quality singers and dancers. For this go-round the star is leggy blond spitfire Felicia Finley, who is equally at home seducing a ballplayer with "Whatever Lola Wants" from Damn Yankees, and complaining about the congestion-inducing man who won't commit in "Adelaide's Lament" from Guys and Dolls.

While the show relies mostly on well-known songs like "On the Town" from New York, New York (which, in turn, borrowed it from the hit Sinatra movie of the same name), the show also picks great songs that aren't as well known.

If you're not a major Stephen Sondheim fan, you might not recognize "Another Hundred People" and "Being Alive" from Company, his 1970 musical. Both songs are about loneliness.

In the former, Andrew Logan, a holdover from last year's cast, sings about longing for love in "a city of strangers" getting off the bus and train. In a typically clever bit of staging, he sings this while a top speed video of passengers departing from New York City modes of transportation plays in the background.

Nights on Broadway always presents a vocal showstopper, and this time it is the splendid rendition of "Being Alive" by Ms. Finley, Lori Mitchell-Gay and Charlie Brady, who take solo duties on the song, then combine for masterful harmonizing.

Brady gets the show off to an amusing start with the "Invocation and Instructions to the Audience" from Frogs, a 1974 Sondheim musical, based on a play by Aristophanes that was revived in 2004. Among other requests, Brady asks the audience not to cough or release gas. By my estimation these instructions were obeyed.

Lori Mitchell-Gay, a Philadelphia native who has established herself as a top performer in Atlantic City, is another holdover from last year. In the previous show she dazzled us with "Le Jazz Hot." This year her audience-pleasing showstopper is "Don Juan" from Smokey Joe's Café. She uses a long hot pink feather boa tossed about to express her distress about the financial status of her ex: "When you had money, I was your honey."

Andrew Logan, also from last year's cast, makes a stronger impression in this show. With material more suited to his talent, his high point is a delightful "I Wanna Be a Producer" from The Producers.

The dancers were dynamic once again, a fixture in Nights On Broadway that makes the strongest contribution to the "cut-above" quality of the show. Props once again go to director-choreographer AC Ciulla. "God I Hope I Get It/Music and the Mirror" from A Chorus Line was the first dance showstopper, followed by "On the Town," "Shoeless Joe" (Damn Yankees) and "Sing Sing Sing" from Fosse. A word of fashion advice to dancer Patrick Brennan, who wore a Tom Brady Patriots jersey in the Chorus Line number: You'd better send the costume designer in search of a Donovan McNabb jersey. The Brady jersey might evoke a few boos, while a McNabb jersey will bring down the house!

When a show is chock full of highlights, picking out the one shining moment is difficult. However, I used the "humming test." The song that I was humming as I walked out of the showroom was Finley's saucy rendition of "Roxie." That one blew me away like a gangster's Tommy gun in old Chicago.

Nearly as exuberant backstage as onstage, New Orleans native Felicia Finley, who starred on Broadway in The Life and AIDA, explains that in this show, "Every song is an eleven o'clock number (a showstopper). We have five eleven o'clock numbers that I do. I've done Evita and this feels -- even though it's [only] 70 minutes -- it feels like I've done an Evita. It's not as emotionally draining, but it's draining. It's a joyful experience and the audience just loves it."

Although this is her first show in town, Finley is already a fan of the city. "I'm good friends with Andrea McArdle and I fell in love with it, being here with Andrea," she says. "I love to gamble. I love 21 and I also like slots. There actually is some method to it."

She also loves the Atlantic City audiences. "I'm glad to be doing something that extends me and makes me grow, with an audience that appreciates it. When I saw this older woman who couldn't walk and she was up out of her chair applauding, I was bawling after the show. That's what it's all about. When you touch someone on that level, what else is there?"

Lori Mitchell-Gay, a regular in Bally's Legends In Concert as both Whitney Houston and Tina Turner, brought her biggest fan to the show, daughter Maya, 6. Says Gay, "I bring my support group with me everywhere I go." As for the show, she exclaims, "It's awesome, and this is home for me so I really look forward to doing a lot of stuff right here in Atlantic City. Once you make some place your home and everyone welcomes you in ... you stay, that's what I've done. I've raised my family here."

When praised for her "Don Juan" number, she agrees, "It's a hoot, and I'm so glad that I get to do so many different things. This lets me be more of myself. I always have a ball. When I met AC [Cuilla, the director-choreographer] he told me he would put me in things that let me shine and that is what he's done."