By Christopher Cappiello

Reprise! Reprises Gershwin Musical

Before there was Mamma Mia or Jersey Boys, there was My One and Only, a precursor to today’s “jukebox” musicals that built a new story around songs written decades earlier by the legendary George and Ira Gershwin. With a book by three-time Tony winner Peter Stone (1776, Woman of the Year, Titanic) and direction and choreography by Thommie Walsh and the show’s star, Tommy Tune, My One and Only opened in 1983 and offered theatergoers an old-fashioned alternative in a season dominated by the arrival of Cats. Now Reprise! Broadway’s Best presents the ‘swonderful Gershwin show as the first offering in the organization’s 10th anniversary season, with Dan Mojica (On the Town, Anything Goes, Pippin) returning as director and choreographer.

My One and Only hangs a loose 1920s romantic story around the timelessly seductive Gershwin brothers’ tunes, leaving plenty of room for high-stepping, high-hat dance numbers. American pilot Billy Buck Chandler (Michael Gruber) is determined to be the first to fly nonstop from New York to Paris. Everything changes when he meets Miss Edith Herbert (Rachel York), a Channel-crossing English swimmer, and the show follows a pretty simple boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-gets-girl story.

One of the original production’s most memorable scenes had Mr. Magix, played by the septuagenarian hoofer Charles “Honi” Coles, teaching Tommy Tune’s Billy Buck how to tap dance to the title song. Mojica has given this scene a Hollywood twist by casting octogenarian Tinseltown musical star Betty Garrett (On the Town) as “Madam” Majix. “In the midst of the casting process, I tried to search out any old-time hoofers of that [“Honi” Coles] vein. And none of them are really around. I was looking for a bit of nostalgia,” the director explains. “Then my brain started going in the direction of, ‘Well, we’re in Hollywood. Let’s see if there are any old gals out there.’” Mojica had worked with Garrett a couple of years ago on a benefit and knew that she was still spry. “To this day she’s hoofing,” he says with admiration. “She goes to tap class every week and she’s in her late 80s.”

The Reprise! schedule makes it easier to attract busy actors because of the concentrated rehearsal period. “We have one week in a studio and one week teching in the theater,” Mojica reveals, “It’s fast and furious! That’s why you hire the best possible talent.” The My One and Only cast is filled with Broadway talent, including Rachel York, who burst onto Broadway wrapped in a sheet in City of Angels and has since turned heads and earned awards for performances in Victor/Victoria and The Scarlet Pimpernel.

It could be intimidating for a director to take on a show that is so closely identified with a giant like Tommy Tune, whose mantel includes nine Tony Awards (including best actor and best choreography for My One and Only), but for Mojica it is more like coming full circle. “I moved to New York in 1983, the same year My One and Only opened on Broadway. It was one of the first productions I saw after moving there. I kind of identified with Tommy Tune—he not only performed, but he directed and he choreographed. I have great admiration for him.” Watching Tune’s work made Mojica say, “That’s what I want to do.” With the Reprise! production, he gets to do just that. “The show is not done so often, so it’s exciting to introduce audiences in L.A. to it. And I get to put my own spin on it. It’s very exciting.”

My One and Only runs Sept. 5-17, at UCLA’s Freud Playhouse. For tickets and more information, call (310) 825-2101 or visit www.reprise.org.