By Steven Suskin
31 Oct 1999
I was never able to garner much enthusiasm for the anthology revue Jerry's Girls, which seemed at the time like a pretty desperate attempt to manufacture something out of nothing. And here it is once more, newly remastered and reissued on two CDs.
Jerry's Girls was initially produced -- by the "Bosom Buddies Company" -- off off-Broadway in August 1981; Ain't Misbehavin', which started under more or less similar circumstances, was still a reigning hit at the time. Jerry Herman, who had been without success since Mame in 1966, was the featured performer, supported by four non-star girls. (Women, actually.) Two years later Herman was suddenly hot again, with the success of La Cage Aux Folles.
A Florida producer, known in the business for cheaply-produced, summer stock-caliber productions, decided to mount a real production of Jerry's Girls. He hired Carol Channing, Leslie Uggams and Andrea McArdle, three Tony Award-winning musical comedy stars who were more or less out of work; added some songs from the standing-room-only La Cage, which had not yet toured the country; and came up with this not very-inspiring package. The second Jerry's Girls opened in February 1984 and closed after a brief tour. A third production -- with Ms. Uggams joined by the similarly under-utilized Dorothy Loudon and Chita Rivera -- was mounted on Broadway in December 1985, where it was just as unsuccessful as the others and closed within four months.
Your enjoyment of this CD of the Florida production -- the only one recorded -- will depend on how you feel about the work of Jerry Herman, I guess. (While Herman apparently didn't appear in this production, he sings a four-minute medley on the disc.) Forty-odd songs are represented; almost all of them are available, with better performances, on original cast CDs, which the true Jerry Herman fan is certain to have. (The cast albums all have better orchestrations, too, and a fuller sound than the thirteen-piece band of Jerry's Girls.) That being said, I note with some surprise that Ms. Uggams does an especially fine job with "It Only Takes a Moment," "If He Walked into My Life," "I Don't Want to Know," and "I Am What I Am." These tracks are well worth hearing.
Speaking of Jerry Herman, I'm pleased to report that I've heard favorable word from two different sources about his score for the upcoming Miss Spectacular. The show itself, commissioned by one of the casinos in Las Vegas, is not likely to appear until 2001; but the songs, I am told, are pretty good.
