An Evening with Richard Rogers

An Evening with A Stranger: A Review
by Beks

Actually the title of the show was/is An Evening With Richard Rodgers. A prominent name and contributor n the world of music, especially for the stage, and, by the throngs of people it attracted on a Monday night (okay, it was a long holiday weekend), it was evident that lots of folks like the music of Richard Rodgers. During the course of the evening I discovered, that when it came to being familiar with his music, I was virtually spending the evening with a stranger. Out of the 35 songs
listed in the playbill only 14 were ones I had experienced with and, because of what must have been last minute changes, not all of those were performed. Well, after my night out I guess Richard isn't quite the stranger anymore.

An Evening with Richard Rodgers is running this week at the outdoor theater, The Muny, in St. Louis, MO. My motivation in traveling to see this show was varied. I wanted to visit a new friend, meet an online friend for the first time and see James Clow perform. James was one of eight stars and two dancers listed to perform along with a good size ensemble and The Muny Kids and Teens. This made is seem like a cast of thousands and since there were 90 kids and teens listed it was at least a cast of a hundred. At this time I have to say I was disappointed that James, with his rich, luxurious voice, was on the very least of all the "stars". Often he was used only to introduce the next song by a different star and his appearances didn't match the synopsis in the playbill for songs. However, among his limited performances, James, did perform a rendition of "You Mustn't Kick It Around" from Pal Joey. Along with him was a group called the St. Louis Strutters which is a group of St. Louis women between the ages of 55 and 75. It was a great skit or performance. The song was good and James' high kicking with these lively, curvaceous women nearly brought the crowd to its feet.

I was entertained, amused and significantly introduced to Richard Rodgers during my night out at The Muny.

And for those of you that are wondering about the stage door, we did get our chance to visit with James and learn a bit about working on The Muny team and what he has been doing since J&H closed. This little chat happened however only after the cast of a hundred was met at the stage door by moms, dads, grandparents, and friends in a mob that we thought was going to go on forever.

James finishes out this week at The Muny and then begins rehearsals for Seven Brides for Seven Brothers which plays at The Muny the first part of August and then moves to Kansas City.