Cagney at PTC

The musical Cagney is getting a lot of buzz because PTC's expanded production of the show is a preview before eventually transferring to Broadway!  I was so excited to see it last night and, even though I was really tired (I had parent teacher conferences this week), I enjoyed this tap-dancing extravaganza!  The story about the life and career of James Cagney (Robert Creighton) is framed by the presentation of a SAG Lifetime Achievement Award to Cagney by Jack Warner (Darrin Baker), with whom he has an acrimonious relationship, in 1978.  The show begins with Warner bragging about plucking Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Lauren Bacall, and James Cagney out of obscurity to turn them into stars.  It then traces Cagney's humble beginnings as a laborer in New York City, to a job as a member of the chorus in a vaudeville act to pay the bills, then as a featured performer along with his future wife Willie (Jessica Wackenfuss) which leads to a role on Broadway and then to the momentous call from Jack Warner offering him a role in The Public Enemy, where he memorably ad libs a scene throwing a grapefruit in his costar's face and becomes a star.  Cagney fears that he is being typecast as a gangster, leading to friction with Warner, until he returns to the studio to star in one of his most memorable movies, White Heat.  Since Cagney worried about being remembered only for his gangster roles, his entire Hollywood career is compressed into two very clever numbers, "Warner at Work," when he is a part of the studio system, and "Cagney at Work," when he has his own production company.  The rest of the show focuses on Cagney as a song and dance man with with big production numbers, including his vaudeville number "Every Sailor," his performance as George M. Cohan in the movie Yankee Doodle Dandy, and his USO shows with Bob Hope (Matt Crowle) during the war.  I really enjoyed these numbers because the choreography is spectacular and Creighton is an exceptionally agile tap dancer.  My favorite song in the show is "Tough Guy," in which Cagney accepts his legacy, because Creighton imbues it with so much pathos.  Cagney's story is interesting and compelling and this musical hearkens back to a by-gone era with wonderful performances.  My only criticism, and it is a big one, is that the projections used throughout the entire show are out of focus and I found this to be incredibly distracting!  I would still recommend seeing this show about a "hoofer who got lucky in the movies."  It runs at PTC until October 5 (go here for tickets).

Note:  I didn't know a lot about James Cagney before seeing this musical.  Now I want to watch some of his movies, especially The Public Enemy and White Heat.