Kate Baldwin and Cast
There are innumerable musical comedies from Broadway's golden age that could be improved by a new book, a more essential element these days than it was once. Except for the Rodgers and Hammerstein canon of classic musical plays whose books have remained virtually intact, the memorable songs contributed by the earlier team of Rodgers and Hart, the brothers Gershwin, plus those by Irving Berlin, and Cole Porter (to name just a few of the greats) in their mostly forgotten shows have been largely disassociated from their source.
That is why this commendable collaboration by Joel Fields and David Lee (who also directed) is as welcome as it is rewarding. They have given a more cohesive and even more comedic core to Porter's 1953 Can-Can . It still doesn't make much sense, but I seriously doubt you will find room for complaint after seeing it. Without completely aborting the original book by Abe Burrows, they have added just a little more weight and substance to the plot. It has been done without diminishing the fun and the froth that frames this giddily romantic romp around Paris in the 1890s.To read the complete review plus more information please go to: http://curtainup.com/cancannj14.html
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