Pros: Max Showalter, other moments of fun and humor that recapture the early sixties
Cons: Often too mature and too serious for its own good
The Bottom Line: It's too bad no other recording of this musical exists. It's generally fun, but this group of performers often sounds too mature and too serious.
pmills1210's Full Review: Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect up? b...
I normally would never think of reviewing musical soundtracks, but this musical holds a special interest for me. I've never seen a live performance of the musical "Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?" which has been one of the most popular productions of the last twenty years in Chicago theater. Sadly, I know of no Chicago cast recording of the music. The one known recording of the music from this show comes from the Broadway cast, where "Patent Leather Shoes" died a very quick death about fifteen years ago.
Based on the 1975 novel of the same name by John R. Powers, the musical is the story of Eddie Ryan returning to his old neighborhood on the south side of Chicago. He starts to recall his high school days of the early sixties, and his first real girlfriend, Becky Bakowski, who was overweight and self-conscious, but sweet. When he and Becky last met, she was preparing to enter the convent, over the misgivings of the boy who'd come to love her. The title itself is a reference to the belief the priests, nuns, and brothers often shared with Catholic youth. They often told the students that the shine of a girl's patent leather shoes would give boys a sinful look right up her dress.
The book is a funny and bittersweet look at Eddie's transition from childhood to adulthood. The songs, which were written by James Quinn and Alaric Jans, capture the essence of what it was like to be a Catholic of the "baby boom" age - and before the schools adopted the integration of boys and girls. While the songs are performed quite capably, I feel the musicians sometimes gave too dramatic an interpretation to the tunes. The slower songs are so slow and so dramatic, they seem to be channeling the spirit of Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. For example, the ballad between Eddie and Becky, "Friends, The Best Of," sounds more like "Indian Love Call" than a ballad from the time the teens grew up, such as "Teen Angel" by Mark Dinning. In "Late Bloomer," Eddie sings about leaving behind the kid he used to be, but his delivery sounds like he left it behind ages ago. These songs never find the right balance between the pop music of the sixties and Broadway orchestration. Chicago seems like a million miles away from New York rather than a thousand.
Other songs capture the spirit the age with enthusiasm and fun. In "Get Ready, Eddie," the cast celebrates the joys and pains of a Catholic education. They may have to study hard, but it pays off, on holy days of obligation, they can go by the public school and yell "Suckers!" at the students there. "Doo-Waa, Doo-Wee" and the medley "Mad Bomber/We're Saving Ourselves For Marriage" pay a fitting tribute to the music teenagers of that era would have enjoyed. The highlight of the music is "Private Parts," where Father O'Reilly sends a message to the teenage boys about sex education. "Don't touch yourself, no matter how you yearn/Not even just a little, 'cause you'll burn, burn, burn!" he warns. He adds, "An evil thinker's just as guilty as an evil doer." That song is a fun look at how many a Catholic child learned about sex - through people who have no first-hand knowledge of it.
I've never heard of any of the performers on this cast recording, but the one who comes off best here is Max Showalter, who plays Father O'Reilly. He's buddy, disciplinarian, and authority figure, all in one. Also, he plays as though he has the singing voice of a typical priest - one that carries a tune at Mass, but not much more. The lead performers - Russ Thacker as Eddie and Eileen Blackman as Becky - have fine voices, but sound far too mature to be playing teenagers. There seems to be a different arranger for every song (ten for the album's twenty tracks), and all of them incorporate too many strings and harps. If their intention was to not copy "Grease" too closely, then they succeeded brilliantly. However, they should have paid closer attention to it, and made it recollect that era better. As it is, these performers get it wrong almost as often as they get it right. It's no wonder this musical this closed so quickly on Broadway.
In his novels, which include "The Last Catholic In America" and "The Unoriginal Sinner And The Ice Cream God," Powers brings to life an era where Catholic youth followed the rest of the country in questioning authority. His humor isn't always as light as other works about growing up Catholic, but he, like the late humorist Jean Shepherd, acknowledges that nostalgia isn't always that nostalgic. If you can catch up to any of his novels (I believe all are now out of print), you will find the Catholic experience come alive in Powers's words. As a musical, "Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?" generally succeeds, but the interpretations aren't always as youthful as they should be. For its moments of youthfulness and humorous insight, I will recommend the musical, but I will recommend the novel more strongly, for it is a truer account of the Catholic experience.
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