By William Wolf

     The latest in the ‘Broadway by the Year” series was already a hit by the time it had barely begun, thanks to the coup of getting the surprise special guest star Robert Goulet. Highlighting “The Broadway Musicals of 1962” production (June 13, 2005), Goulet was received with thunderous applause and rewarded the audience by charmingly telling anecdotes about his appearance in “Camelot,” then delivering, off-mike, as he did in the Broadway run of the musical, a rousing rendition of “If Ever I Would Leave You.” The date connection was somewhat tenuous, as the show opened earlier, but Goulet was still performing it in 1962. Who could care about dates? Goulet, starring in “La Cage Aux Folles,” still carries the aura of talent and fame and he made the evening right off the bat.

     But creator and host Scott Siegel didn’t leave it at that. A terrific cast of six—Liz Callaway, Scott Coulter, Felicia Finley, Danny Gurwin, Brad Oscar and Christine Pedi—made the songs of 1962 shows come alive with a sense of fun as well as nostalgia. There was also a welcome featured assist from Will Taylor and Eric Stretch of the Cagelles, the dance troupe enlivening the Broadway revival of “La Cage Aux Folles.” More about that later.

     As is his custom in the series, Siegel engagingly set the scene of 1962 by recalling that it was the year of the Cuban missile crisis, when the fate of the world hung in the balance. It was also the year when John Glenn was the first American to orbit the globe. Siegel reached back to tell how producer David Merrick, promoter extraordinaire, found a group of people who happened to have the same names as leading theater critics and used their pictures and favorable quotes for one of his shows in an ad that fooled the Herald Tribune and was published.

     The musicals of the year were an uneven lot—what else is new?—but they nonetheless provided numbers that the evening’s talented performers could revive with gusto. The best shows, however, were “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, “Little Me,” with songs by Carolyn Leigh and Cy Coleman, and “Stop the World—I Want to Get Off,” the numbers of which were written by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse.

     “Everybody Ought to Have a Maid” from “A Funny Thing…” was a show-stopper, as it was in the original, with Coulter, Oscar and Gurwin cavorting. It was here that the two Cagelles spiced things up in their maid costumes and with their feather dusters, as well as with their leggy dance turns and body movements. Also from that show, the personable Gurwin scored with “Love, I Hear,” and the skillful Pedi was amusing with the ironically nervous “I’m Calm.”

      “Stop the World—I Want to Get Off” yielded the celebrated “What Kind of Fool Am I?,” which Coulter, who just gets better and better, sang in a rousing rendition. Another hit from the show, “Once in a Lifetime,” was done justice by Oscar, and without a mike. Singing some numbers off-mike, as used to be the norm on Broadway, has become a tradition of the series. “Gonna Build a Mountain,” also from the same show, was done enthusiastically by the ensemble.

      The evening was enhanced by the opportunity to savor what a prime performer Felicia Finley is. Her sexy looks on display along with her talent and zest, Finley sang “In the Morning,” from “New Faces of 1962,” was delightful in a duo with Pedi in “Secret Service” from Irving Berlin’s critically panned “Mr. President,” excelled with her solo “I’m Gonna Get Him,” also from “Mr. President,” and in her teaming with Gurwin for a charming offering of “Real Live Girl” from “Little Me.”

     There was a tantalizing score written for “Little Me,” further evidenced by Coulter’s “I’ve Got Your Number,” and Callaway’s appealing “Poor Little Hollywood Star” and “The Other Side of the Tracks.” Callaway, another exceptionally fine performer, dug into the long-forgotten show, “Nowhere to Go But Up” (by James Lipton—yes, that one--and Sol Berkowitz) to sing the title number with Coulter.

     Remember Harold Rome’s “I Can Get It For You Wholesale”? It was a show that launched Barbra Streisand with her “Miss Marmelstein” character and number by that name. Pedi did a good job singing the comical song without trying to do an imitation. Oscar evoked an ethnic tinge with the musical’s “Momma Momma.” Other shows explored included “All American” by Lee Adams and Charles Strouse, “Bravo Giovanni” by Ronny Graham and Milton Schafer, “A Family Affair” by John Kander, James Goldman and William Goldman and “No Strings” by Richard Rodgers.

     Bryan Batt’s direction was snappy, and the music by The Ross Patterson Little Big Band was yet again the boon that can always be counted upon to brighten every one of the shows in the series. At The Town Hall, 123 W. West 43rd Street.