By Chris Young
Daily Bruin Contributor
Nations have gone to war for some strange reasons, but George Gershwin’s musical “Strike Up the Band” is the first time that war has ever broken out over cheese.
“Strike Up the Band,” performed by the Reprise! theater company, runs through Sunday at UCLA’s Freud Playhouse. The musical, originally produced in 1927, takes a humorous look at the American military, politicians, over-zealous patriots and greedy businessmen.
This production of George S. Kaufman and George and Ira Gershwin’s musical has its high points, but leaves something to be desired.
Act One opens with the workers of the Horace J. Fletcher American Cheese Company hard at work, producing America’s finest quality cheese. The American cheese industry is protected by tariff on foreign imports, a tariff that competing cheese producer Switzerland doesn’t take lightly.
Through a series of provocations, Fletcher (Charles Nelson Reilly), convinces Colonel Holmes (Steve Vinovich) that the U.S. needs to go to war with the Swiss. He finances the entire war himself, on the condition that it be called the Horace J. Fletcher Memorial War.
Act Two finds the Americans in Switzerland, ready for battle with the enemy. A couple of problems discourage the American troops, however, including the loss of their uniform buttons and their inability to find the battle, let alone the enemy.
The plot is further complicated by love and marriage on the home front. Fletcher’s daughter Joan (Melissa Dye) wants to wed reporter Jim Townsend (Michael Maguire), but her father orders her to marry C. Edgar Sloane, the cheese company’s second in command.
Meanwhile, Old Man Fletcher and Colonel Holmes both find wealthy benefactor Mrs. Draper’s money very appealing, and a love triangle ensues.
Mrs. Draper’s daughter Anne and cheese factory foreman Timothy Harper fall in love, but their relationship is marred also. Draper wants Harper to fight in the war so she can be a “war bride,” but Harper refuses to go because he doesn’t believe in the cause.
Even with some dancing Swiss girls and a Groucho Marx-type character thrown in, the musical still lumbers along.
Charles Nelson Reilly gives an excellent performance as the bumbling Horace J. Fletcher. Reilly’s Fletcher has both the dignified air of an elderly gentleman and the urgent naivete of an adolescent. Whether giving histrionic orations on the malicious Swiss or trying to catch the eye of Mrs. Draper, Reilly is always a convincing lead.
Maguire, meanwhile, breathes conviction into the square-jawed reporter Townsend. Stuart Pankin appears convincing as the sycophantic Sloane, a heavyset man with a couple of skeletons in his closet.
A trio performance of “How About A Man” with Fletcher, Holmes and Mrs. Draper sparkles with chemistry. Fletcher and Holmes square off, each trying to outdo the other for Mrs. Draper’s hand in marriage. They stand on either side of Mrs. Draper, arguing over her head as they demonstrate why each would be the better suitor. Their competitiveness is quite comical.
Another highlight of the show is the company’s tap-dancing numbers. This is a welcome aspect of the production and brings excitement to the musical when it starts to drag. For example, the American soldiers stationed in Switzerland do a lively dance with a huge U.S. flag and a giggling group of Swiss girls.
For all the strong performances, however, the musical is offset by the poor onstage chemistry between both pairs of young couples. The characters go through the motions of courtship but it is hardly convincing.
In addition, the orchestra was a little sloppy during a couple tunes, even in the opening overture. Occasionally the performers and the orchestra were not synchronized, starting off at different speeds only locking in together after a few moments.
Even more confusing is George Spelvin, the Groucho Marx-type character who roller skates onto stage, honking a horn, at totally random times. If Spelvin was intended as comic relief, the character only succeeds in getting audience eyebrows to raise in puzzlement. His entrances and exits are a bit awkward also.
Many of the musical’s jokes are hit-or-miss. Some of them are downright cheesy. For instance, Townsend is labeled a spy from Switzerland after he is spotted wearing a Swiss watch. Tongue-in-cheek puns and double entendres are sprinkled throughout the dialogue.
Overall, the show exhibits high and low points, averaging out to a fairly mediocre musical. Musically inclined students might like this production, but everyone else might well question whether this particular show warrants its high ticket price.
THEATER: “Strike Up the Band” plays at UCLA’s Freud Playhouse in Macgowan Hall Feb. 28 through March 4. Wednesday through Friday at 8 p.m. Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $55 at the UCLA Central Ticket Office, (310) 825-2101, and Ticketmaster outlets, (213) 365-3500.