'Tops from Flops' sings praises of all-time hits that survived Broadway duds

Broadway. They call it the “Great White Way.” But it’s also a great, wide graveyard for theatrical duds. 

Broadway’s untimely deaths are legion. From “Moose Murders” to “Carrie” (the musical!) But shed no tears. Some of the greatest hits come from sorriest musical duds. 

Riselle Bain’s “Tops from Flops” sings the praises of those unlikely Broadway melodies.

The Players Centre for Performing Arts production showcases 10 familiar faces: Bain (the musical’s author), Bronson Byerley, Susan Cole, Daniel Espinal, Paige Galdieri, Randall Hall, Eliza Morehouse, Terry Ross, Bill Sarazan and Madison Spahn. 

The guys are dressed in tuxedos, the gals in evening gowns. (Kudos to Tim Beltley for the swanky garb.) Their enthusiasm, if it could be bottled, would be more energizing than a double shot of espresso.

This straight-up revue has no speck of a storyline, but does pepper you with some interesting theatrical trivia — and the barbs of acid-tongued critics.

“I had a great time … until the curtain came up.”

“Miss Hepburn ran the gamut of human emotions—from A to B.”

Jeffery Kin and Alyssa Goudy’s directorial approach mixes 100-proof razzmatazz with softball comedy. (The routine where two lead singers compete for the spotlight for example.) The show is a love letter, not a brick through the window. That’s the loving approach they take. Aside from the spleen of long-dead critics, it’s a sweet, tall glass of nostalgia.

For what, exactly?

I was expecting the song-and-dance to divide the 20th century into first and second acts. Nope. Bain’s review focuses on the pre-Sondheim era.

The show opens with Cole Porter’s “Just One of Those Things” from the 1935 “Jubilee.” It’s followed by medley of unforgettable Al Jolson tunes from long-forgotten early 20th century shows, a Gershwin sampler — including George Gershwin’s 1924 “Rhapsody in Blue” (played in sparkling style by pianist Teresa O’Connell, the show’s music director), and some stunning numbers from George and Ira Gershwin’s 1935 “Porgy and Bess” (hardly a flop, but let’s move on), and two of Harold Arlen’s classics, including “Buddy Can You Spare a Dime?”

The second act includes “Mack the Knife,” the most contemporary song of the bunch from 1954. (Marc Blitzstein’s translation of Bertolt Brecht’s lyrics for the 1954 off-Broadway run of “The Three Penny Opera.”) 

You’re also encouraged to “Begin the Beguine” (another Cole Porter gem from “Jubilee”), take a walk on “The Sunny Side of the Street,” (Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields’ tune from the 1930 “Lew Leslie’s International Revue” — supposedly stolen from Fats Waller), and closes on the rousing notes of William Rose and Edward Eliscu’s “Great Day” (1927) and the Gershwin brothers’ “Strike Up the Band” (1929), which are two perennial crowd-pleasers from two of Broadway’s biggest bombs.

If you feel like setting the wayback machine to old-school Broadway, this is the show for you. It’s a lot of fun. If you’re a struggling musician just starting out, it’s an encouragement not to quit.

A disaster on stage won’t kill your career. A disaster before you make it to the stage won’t either.

George Gershwin originally worked as a publicist for an obscure music publishing company. When they caught him actually writing music they fired him.

“Leave the song-writing to the real song-writers,” they told him.

It’s a good thing he didn’t take their advice.