'Call Me Madam': Theater Review
You can't begrudge Encores! for celebrating the 75th anniversary of its home base, City Center, by bringing back one of its biggest successes. Call Me Madam was the first entry of the company's second season back in 1995, and a lot was riding on it. Their first season had been critically well-received but unprofitable, and a hit was needed. The best way to have a hit is to get a star, and they got one in Tyne Daly, who scored a triumph in the lead role originally played by Ethel Merman in the 1950 Broadway production. It wasn't the first time Daly had proved she could make a role originated by Merman her own, having won a Tony as Rose in a 1989 Broadway revival of Gypsy.
It would be terrific to report that the series' new production was equally invigorating. Sadly, Carmen Cusack, who was Tony-nominated for her Broadway debut in Steve Martin and Edie Brickell's Bright Star, doesn’t quite have the larger-than-life presence necessary to lift this flimsy star vehicle. She does, however, have a gorgeous voice and charm to spare, and these assets, along with Irving Berlin's terrific score and some deftly amusing supporting performances, make this Call Me Madam enjoyable if not spectacular.
