Theater Thursday - A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine

We were given complimentary tickets to A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine for review purposes. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own. 

What: A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine 

Where: Theater Row 

              410 W. 42nd St. 

              New York, NY

Who: Recommended for Ages 12 and Up

When: Through March 6, 2022

The second show of J2 Spotlight Theater Company's season is the rarely produced A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine. This show is allegedly so rare that it has not been seen in the New York City area since the original Broadway production in 1980/1981. The most recent production that can be found was back in 2009 in Pennsylvania.

The show is more like two separate one-act musicals than one cohesive show. The first act doesn't really have a story. It is just a bunch of songs about Hollywood musicals sung by actors portraying movie theater ushers. The songs themselves are pleasant enough but nothing special. The performances are good, however, and the singing and dancing is first-rate.  The major highlight of this act is the song Famous Feet. During this song you see various people dancing dressed as famous movie characters. However, the staging is fun and different because all you see are their feet. We are not sure if the choreography is from the original production or unique to this production but either way it is probably still exciting and new to most of today's audiences who most likely didn't see the original production anyway.

The second act is basically a take-off of a Marx Brothers movie, and  accordingly, the actors take on roles based on the brothers' familiar characters. The show is somewhat amusing even if you are not a Marx Brothers fan. However, it can be somewhat tedious at times if you are not. Luckily, it is not too long. There are not very many songs in it either and none of the ones that are are memorable. 

What makes this particular production work is the sheer enthusiasm of its cast. They sing and dance and play their parts (the latter more so in the second act when they actually have particular characters to play) with such gusto that you can't help being swept along with it. You get so caught up in it that you almost forget how disjointed the whole thing is.

And that's our view. For more information about A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine go to www.j2spotlightnyc.com/hollywood-ukraine.

Tune in Saturday for a Saturday Special.

Photo credits: All A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine photos by Russ Rowland