CriticalDance Forum

This is the touring ensemble from the 2001 Broadway production that won a Tony Award for best musical revival — the 1980 show's first Broadway reprise — and the company has a Broadway sheen.

Expect no revelations, however. "42nd Street" has been produced frequently in the Southland. While this touring production has a bigger cast, a few different songs and a glossier look than some of the other revivals, it's not on a significantly higher level than the better local efforts

Theater Review: '42nd Street'

Jay Reiner
Hollywood Reporter

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The timing couldn't be better for a show like "42nd Street" to make the rounds again. <a href=http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030715/review_nm/review_stage_street_dc_1 target=_blank>more on Yahoo</a>

You can't beat all those feet on '42nd Street'
Berkeley's numbers still steal the show

Robert Hurwitt, Chronicle Theater Critic

Feet. Dozens of them, moving in unison, tapping their little hearts out -- or, perhaps, soles off. In the immortal lyrics of Al Dubin (and music of Harry Warren), the song "42nd Street" entices the listener to "Come and meet/ those dancing feet," and the musical of the same name wastes no time making that point.

'42nd Street's' got a lot of what it takes
By Pat Craig
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

"42nd Street" is an art deco Disneyland of a musical, best enjoyed by those who believe Busby Berkeley is a logical candidate for sainthood.

She goes out there a youngster, and maybe she'll come back a star. But it hasn't happened yet. That's the uncertain life of an understudy in '42nd Street.'

Leba Hertz
SF Chronicle

Peg and Greg Helland traveled 5,859 miles from Stockton to Moscow to see their daughter, Tiffany, perform in "42nd Street." They had no problem picking her out onstage, despite the fact she didn't really have a huge role -- she was in the chorus.

<a href=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/09/13/DD282108.DTL target=_blank>more</a>

42nd STREET

By BARBARA M. BANNON
Special to The Salt Lake Tribune

We all know the story, now an American myth: Sweet young thing goes to the big city and gets into the chorus of a splashy show. Sweet young thing's talent catches the director's eye; when she goes on for the injured leading lady, she becomes an instant star.

...

Tuesday night, the show that set the myth in stone comes to Salt Lake City when "42nd Street" opens at the Capitol Theatre. But is the story immortalized in "42nd Street" that far-fetched? No, says Daren Kelly, who plays director Julian Marsh in this production. "I've lived in New York for 30 years," Kelly says, "and I almost believe everything people tell me because so many crazy things happen in New York. I've had friends who were cast in understudy roles and have gone on in major parts on Broadway, and it's turned their whole career around."

'42nd ' presents lots of razzamatazz

By CELIA R. BAKER
The Salt Lake Tribune

The story is familiar: Small-town girl tries her luck at showbiz in wicked Manhattan, and -- surprise! -- she becomes a Broadway star. Despite the transparent plot, there are plenty of reasons not to miss the national touring production of "42nd Street," now playing at Capitol Theatre in Salt Lake City. Yes, it is silly, but this show will wrench a smile out of the most unwilling curmudgeon.

The moment the curtain goes up -- only three feet at first -- to reveal endless rows of tap-dancing feet, the audience knows to expect a grand dose of old-fashioned razzamatazz. Sequined costumes, scads of handsome men and beautiful women, costumes both wacky and gorgeous -- it's all there. But the real delight is in the way this show pays affectionate homage to Old Broadway, while gently sending up 1930s song-and-dance musicals.

Dancing feat

By KYLE LAWSON
The Arizona Republic
January 30, 2004

"Come and meet those dancing feet/On the avenue I'm taking you to/Forty-Second Street."

That Harry Warren music, those Al Dubin lyrics. Can anything set a musical lover's toes tapping faster than the news that the smash Broadway revival 42nd Street is on its way to town?

Revival hits Broward Center, and it's a hit

By CHRISTINE DOLEN
The Miami Herald
February 07, 2004

That sound you hear, that rhythmic metallic thunder, is a special kind of smile-inducing showbiz joy. It ricochets from the dozens of dancing feet in 42nd Street, nestles in your heart and demands that you show those hard-working hoofers some love.

42nd Street a throwback to a grand old show style

By BILL HIRCSHMAN
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel
February 7, 2004

From the first tympani and brass notes of 42nd Street's overture, the Broward Center's opening-night audience was hooked. By the time the band finished We're in the Money, the crowd was captivated.

A dream fulfilled

by JOHNETTE RODRIGUEZ
Phoenix.com

There’s a pleasing synchronicity when life imitates art within the context of art imitating life. Such is the case with Mara Davi, the young California State sophomore who has the lead role of Peggy Sawyer in the national tour of 42nd Street, which comes to the Providence Performing Arts Center January 4 through 9.

Tap Time

by JOAN TUPPONCE
Richmond.com

At the beginning of auditions for the national touring production of “42nd Street,” Davi was simply one tap dancer/actress in a bevy of hopefuls. By the end, she was a stand out, winning the role of Peggy Sawyer, the female lead in the Tony award-winning musical playing theLandmark Theater from Dec. 28 to Jan. 2.

'42nd Street' bustles with energy
Talk about your fancy footwork. The moment the lights come up on "Audition," the opening number of the musical "42nd Street," the North Shore Music Theatre stage nearly explodes with the energy of two dozen tap dancers. Director Charles Repole and choreographer Michael Lichtefeld set the bar very high with this turbo-powered, razor-sharp production number, but to their credit the cast seems to crank the energy level even more as the show unfolds.