Woodie Anderson (left) as Herb Lee, Shawn Galligan as Benjy Stone, Jim McCormack as Sy Benson, Rachel Spence as Alice Miller, and John J. Polk as King Kaiser perform a scene from the Beck Center production of "My Favorite Year." (Photo courtesy of Stephen Campanella)

Beck Center’s old-fashioned musical blends two eras
By Art Thomas
Insights
Published May 28, 2008

Based on a film, the stage musical incarnation of “My Favorite Year” is a traditional musical, with a book and songs that further the plot, but it is not an easy show to produce. At the Beck Center, you’ll see a production just about as fully realized as it can be.

Remember the film in which Peter O’Toole was a heavy-drinking stage star reduced to a guest star status on the newly discovered national pastime: television? That is a nutshell description of the show. Narrated by a wide-eyed writer anxious to make his mark as a sketch writer for the King Kaiser TV show, “My Favorite Year” also has some elements of romance.

Shawn Galligan is Benjy Stone, remembering 1954. It was his “favorite year,” not his best year. Most of television was live then, and everyone flew by the seat of their pants, hoping that the live studio audiences would let the families watching on their calculator-sized screens at home realize how much fun the show was.

Galligan’s clear voice and unflagging enthusiasm starts this show off right with a big production number. Then we go to the writer’s room, where a trio of seasoned pros is alternately cooperative and competitive to get their material on stage and to please King Kaiser.

John Polk plays the egotistical Kaiser with dead on success. Chomping a cigar and barking orders, Polk’s Kaiser is less aware than those around him of what is going on, and the results are broad humor at its best.

Into this picture comes Matthew Wright as Alan Swann. He’ll be part of a comic musketeers sketch — if he can remain sober. This doesn’t seem possible through the rehearsals. By the way — kudos are in order for John Davis’ masterful swordfight choreography. Wright’s Swann has the experience to back up his pronouncements and he keeps the character at least somewhat likeable — a weakness of the script, especially in the first act.

If live television and fading stars aren’t your cup of tea, you can watch the romance develop between Stone and K.C. Downing, played by Therese Kloos. Or there’s a frighteningly real “home scene” in which Swann shares a meal with Stone’s overbearing mother, Belle. Here played to perfection by Jean Zarzour, Belle is matched with Joey Cayabyab as third husband Rookie Carroca.

Beck’s “My Favorite Year” is held together by Fred Sternfeld’s disciplined direction, Martin Cespedes’ neat choreography, and Larry Goodpaster’s crisp musical direction.

On the Net:

• Beck Center for the Arts