"Run-Don’t-Walk!"
You don’t have to be Jewish to love the clever new musical To Life: A Broadway Celebration of Jewish Life.
The first act is a tribute to four great Jewish Vaudevillians - Eddie Cantor, Sophie Tucker, Fanny Brice and Al Jolson - through their hit songs.
The second act takes 34 songs from 13 musicals, and skillfully weaves them together to create a journey through life.
This revue needs very strong singing actors, and Charlotte Moore, Shawn Wright, Patrick Cook and Gabi Epstein are certainly not chopped liver.
Avery Saltzman has directed the show to within an inch of its life, and what isn’t directed, is choreographed by Tim French. On one hand, this attention to detail turns every song into its own production
number. On the other, it does mean a busy stage.
Nonetheless, if any musical revue deserves a shelf life, this is it.
To Life is a class act and a run-don’t-walk.
To Life continues at the Jane Mallett Theatre until May 29.
Paula Citron, Arts Reviewer for THE NEW CLASSICAL 96.3 FM.
“TO LIFE will have you humming with your baby back home!”
