By Wayman Wong
01 Sep 2004

NOAH'S ARC: FROM BROADWAY TO BOLGER

In Never Gonna Dance, Noah Racey followed in Fred Astaire's footsteps and played a happy-go-Lucky hoofer who always looked dashing. In Where's Charley? at Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Connecticutt, he is dashing once again – only this time he's dashing on and off-stage in drag, looking like Whistler's Mother on speed. He plays Charley, an Oxford student, but Racey also races around as his aunt in order to provide himself a chaperone so he can see Amy (Nili Bassman).

Ray Bolger, best known as the Scarecrow in "The Wizard of Oz," originated this role in 1948, and Racey is making his own run at it: bouncing on a bench, prancing on a piano and sliding onstage. Frank Rizzo of Variety raves, "Racey radiates pure charm and wins us over with genuine warmth and dances like a dream. It's Racey's show." Like Bolger, he leads a fun and infectious singalong of Frank Loesser's "Once in Love With Amy," but the audience is pretty much at once in love with Racey as soon as he appears.

"I love being a goof," beams the six-foot entertainer. "I'm a clown at heart. I love Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. And this show is such a joy to do. Our director, Tony Walton, is a sweet guy, and working at Goodspeed has been a dream." As for dressing in drag, "It's insane, but I'm lucky I don't have to wear high heels."

Racey's fast on his feet and quick with his wit. Julie Andrews, Walton's ex and one of Racey's heroes, recently saw Where's Charley?, so in the show's tea-party scene, he ad-libbed a line about "a spoonful of sugar" in reference to "Mary Poppins." Later, she called his performance "the sweetest thing I've ever seen – perfection."

If life were perfect, Racey, 34, also should've waltzed away with last season's Astaire Award as the best dancer on Broadway for his fancy footwork and priceless partnering with Nancy Lemenager in Never Gonna Dance. Looking back at its short-lived run, he says, "It beat the hell out of me, and it was so heartbreaking when it closed. We should've gone out of town first. The Tonys [and not getting nominated] was like the bubble bursting. It was painful. But I am damn proud of the show we put on at the Broadhurst. The cast was truly one of the most impressive I've ever worked with. And I learned so much from them. I'll always hold that experience close to my heart. It was my baptism into the leading man's fire, and I cherished every moment of it."

For more information, visit www.noahracey.cjb.net.

WHERE THE GUYS ARE
There's so much to see in New York: Micah Bucey won a Fringe Festival Award for his terrific tour de force in The Only Thing Straight Is My Jacket, and his show is playing again Sept. 13-15 at 8 p.m. at the West End Theatre, 263 W. 86th St. (212-352-3101). Written by Paul Hagen, it depicts the delightfully deluded cabaret act of a gay mental patient, and Bucey is totally committed – in more ways than one – when he sings Sondheim's "Losing My Mind." … Jim Walton (Merrily We Roll Along) and Bob Walton (42nd Street) have written The Eyes Are the First Thing to Go: The Mid-Life Musical Comedy, and it'll play Sept. 22-Oct. 3 at the 45th Street Theatre, 345 W. 45th St. (212 353-3101). It'll boast Broadway stars like Pamela Myers (Company) and offer tunes like "Who Put the Men in Menopause?," plus a witty ditty about "singing mammograms." … If the sound of unmiked singers is music to your ears, catch Broadway Unplugged on Sept. 27 at 8 p.m. at Town Hall, 123 W. 43rd St. (212 307-4100). Scott Siegel's concert is bursting with dynamite divas (like Debbie Gravitte, Ann Harada and Karen Ziemba) and "Leading Men" (such as Davis Gaines, Darius de Haas and Howard McGillin).

Finally, it's time to announce our "Star Performers of 2004." This column is honoring two younger "Leading Men" for their outstanding debut lead performances this past season on Broadway and Off-Broadway: Michael Arden (Bare) and Noah Racey (Never Gonna Dance). Each is having a career year. Next, Arden will reopen in Bare on Oct. 13 at the new Dodger Stages, and after wrapping up in Where's Charley? on Sept. 25, Racey heads out to choreograph the Japanese company of Never Gonna Dance. Congratulations!

Got comments or questions? E-mail me at waymanwong@hotmail.com.

Until next month, let's hear it for the "boys"!

Wayman Wong edits entertainment for The New York Daily News. He has been a movie and theater critic for The San Francisco Examiner, a writer for The Sondheim Review and a Drama-Logue Award-winning playwright.