{"id":236034,"date":"2013-02-03T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-02-03T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/pete-n-keely-what-lambs-does-so-well\/"},"modified":"2013-02-03T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-02-03T08:00:00","slug":"pete-n-keely-what-lambs-does-so-well","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/pete-n-keely-what-lambs-does-so-well\/","title":{"rendered":"Pete \u2018n\u2019 Keely: what Lamb\u2019s does so well"},"content":{"rendered":"

Charlene Baldridge | Noticias del Centro<\/strong><\/p>\n

Though they work very hard, two seasoned pros make James Hindman\u2019s 2000 off-Broadway musical \u201cPete \u2018n\u2019 Keely\u201d look easy. A feast for musical theater and comedy lovers, the show \u2013 starring Eileen Bowman and Phil Johnson \u2013 continues through March 3 at Coronado\u2019s Lamb\u2019s Players Theatre.<\/p>\n

\"Pete<\/a>
Phil Johnson and Eileen Bowman belt out a tune (Photo by Ken Jacques)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The book is loosely based on married pop music performers Steve (Lawrence) and Edye (Gorme) whose tune, \u201cWe Got Us,\u201d is referenced obliquely in the \u201cPete \u2018n\u2019 Keely\u201d score as \u201cIt\u2019s Us Again.\u201d Think of Sonny and Cher\u2019s \u201cI Got You, Babe,\u201d and you get the idea.<\/p>\n

The musical includes original music as well as standards like \u201cFever\u201d (hilariously sung by Johnson) and \u201cLover\u201d (sung by Bowman, who wears a succession of fabulous costumes by Jeanne Barnes Reith that threaten the originals by Bob Mackie).<\/p>\n

With handsome Brent Schindele on piano and a fine onstage combo comprising Tom Versen on percussion, Harley Magsino on bass and Leonard Sundelson on reeds\/flute, Bowman and Johnson\u2019s vocals are well supported and euphoniously orchestrated by Patrick Brady.<\/p>\n

Actor Patrick Duffy, also responsible for sound design, portrays the nervous stage manager of the 1968 TV station where the action is set upon Mike Buckley\u2019s set, replete with lighted-stair platform.<\/p>\n

Here we witness the \u201chappy, happy\u201d TV reunion special of two formerly married entertainers who snipe at each other all evening, all the while barely maintaining surface decorum.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were the biggest thing since Little Ricky,\u201d says Keely of the couple\u2019s glorious 12 years at the top, which Pete says, \u201cWere the happiest three days of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Pete<\/a>
Eileen Bowman and Phil Johnson change costumes often (Photo by Ken Jacques)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The funniest part of the show is \u201cPete \u2018n\u2019 Keely as Tony \u2018n\u2019 Cleo,\u201d in which Bowman and Johnson play clueless New York tourists. It\u2019s a spoof in a tomb with spectacular costumes achieved in the blink of an eye. The hit tune from \u201cHello Dolly\u201d becomes \u201cHello Egypt,\u201d and as Anthony expresses his passion for Cleo we seem to hear strains of \u201cIf Ever I Should Leave You.\u201d The strength of spoof is sincerity and these performers have it.<\/p>\n

The biggest surprise to this Johnson devotee is Johnson\u2019s voice, which is surprisingly beautiful and tender at times, then powerful without edge.<\/p>\n

Remarkable singing, and of course we already know what Bowman can do whether singing low-down blues or soaring operatically. Both are extraordinary farceurs and I cannot imagine anyone better than they in this show.<\/p>\n

Director Kerry Meads, musical director Jon Lorenz, and choreographer Colleen Kollar Smith could not be more fortunate. The audience January 26 floated out on a wave of joy and enthusiasm. This is what they love; this is what Lamb\u2019s does so well.<\/p>\n

\u201cPete \u2018n\u2019 Keely\u201d continues at 7:30 p.m. Tues-Thurs, 8 p.m. Fri-Sat, 2 p.m. Tues and Sun, 4 p.m. Sat, through March 3 at Lamb\u2019s Players Theatre, 1142 Orange Avenue, Coronado, lambsplayers.org<\/a> o 619-437-6000.<\/p>\n

Charlene Baldridge se mud\u00f3 a San Diego desde el \u00e1rea de Chicago en 1962. Ha estado escribiendo sobre las artes desde 1979 y desde entonces sus art\u00edculos, cr\u00edticas, encuestas y entrevistas han sido incluidas en varias publicaciones. Su libro San Diego, Jewel of the California Coast (Northland Publishing) est\u00e1 actualmente disponible en las librer\u00edas. Puede comunicarse con ella en charb81@gmail.com.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Charlene Baldridge | Downtown News Though they work very hard, two seasoned pros make James Hindman\u2019s 2000 off-Broadway musical \u201cPete \u2018n\u2019 Keely\u201d look easy. A feast for musical theater and comedy lovers, the show \u2013 starring Eileen Bowman and Phil Johnson \u2013 continues through March 3 at Coronado\u2019s Lamb\u2019s Players Theatre. The book is loosely […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":236035,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"Pete \u2018n\u2019 Keely: what Lamb\u2019s does so well","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11547,11600],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-236034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-features","category-sdnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236034"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236034\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}