AN AP ENTERTAINMENT REVIEW

.c The Associated Press

 By MATT WOLF
 

LONDON (AP) - The three female stars of ``The Witches of Eastwick'' fly high - literally - at the end of the first act of the much-awaited musical version produced by blockbuster king Cameron Mackintosh.

As long as its leading ladies join forces vocally, not to mention aerially, the show flies, too.

As it happens, that's often enough to keep director Eric Schaeffer's production mostly airborne, despite some dead patches in the second act and a game if underpowered leading man.

The $7 million Anglo-American venture was inspired both by the John Updike novel and the subsequent Hollywood film.

Ian McShane, stepping into Jack Nicholson's film shoes as the devil, gives off the air of a fearless neophyte swimmer wading in over his head. Brave indeed is the man willing to share a musical stage with Lucie Arnaz, in ravishing voice and figure in her British stage debut, as well as local favorites Maria Friedman and Joanna Riding.

Inheriting the roles played in the 1987 Warner Bros. movie by Cher, Michelle Pfeiffer and Susan Sarandon, Arnaz, Friedman and Riding constitute a trio worth treasuring - both separately and together - as they forge their own serious sisterhood.

Those who know the movie will recall the outlines of the story, even if book writer John Dempsey has fashioned a plot whose specifics largely bypass Michael Cristofer's screenplay in favor of John Updike's far subtler 1984 source novel.

Subtlety, however, isn't the point here. Fun, pizzazz and a thinly veiled message are.

At its core, this ``Witches of Eastwick'' tells of a coven of sorcerers who discover that the secret to life lies within themselves. Think of the show as a study in self-affirmation wedded to a battery of special effects, and you'll have exactly the good time that is the musical's unpretentious goal.

That's quite a contrast, admittedly, from several of the 1980s blockbusters backed by Mackintosh, who built up a musical empire with the help of the French Revolution (``Les Miserables'') and the Vietnam War (``Miss Saigon'').

``Witches,'' by contrast, occupies a small, churchgoing New England town - Eastwick, R.I. to be precise - that seems to belong to the less fractious era previously evoked on the musical stage in ``Bye Bye Birdie,'' ``Bells Are Ringing'' and even ``Grease,'' each of which ``The Witches of Eastwick'' at various times recalls.

Indeed, while Updike's novel makes allusion to such 1960s reference points as Janis Joplin, the Pentagon and Ralph Nader, the musical deliberately chooses to be vague.

When precisely, for example, does the show take place? Judging by a hairdo or two - like Rosemary Ashe as the show's chief victim, the loony Felicia - the 1950s would be a good guess. But some of the racier language is far more contemporary. (Those sensitive to the mention of body parts should stand forewarned.)

At the same time, McShane's amiable Darryl conveys the easygoing loucheness of a slightly seedy Hugh Hefner, all of which would suggest that the show is happening at whatever moment in time its audience wants it to. After all, lovelessness - its heroines' shared condition - has no limitations when it comes to place or time.

And so we have Arnaz as Alexandra, the sassy den mother of the three, a sculptress whose erotic objets d'art flourish once Darryl joins the fold.

How he inspires transformation of the other women is even more profound - Friedman's Sukie begins as an inarticulate, sheepish reporter and blossoms into a deft wordsmith who stops the show with her first-act patter song, ``Words, Words, Words.'' Her second-act solo, ``Loose Ends,'' cannot compare.

Cellist Jane sheds her glasses and, with them, her inhibitions, though not before Riding socks her own character-defining song - ``Waiting for the Music to Begin,'' with Jane finding a very playable instrument in the libidinous Darryl - out of the theater.

Dempsey and Dana P. Rowe's score is at its brassiest and best asserting the women's needs. It is considerably less good when it puts center-stage McShane - a star who has to carry two second-act company numbers that mostly make you cringe.

That's too bad. Because, when he's not attempting to sing or dance, McShane cuts an attractive roue who matches up perfectly to the ``bearish, dark man'' described in Updike's novel. He's far less hammy, too, than Nicholson, which isn't saying much, though it anchors the show in a way unavailable to the movie's over-the-top star turn.

And yet, it remains ladies' night throughout.

``The Witches of Eastwick'' can be said to dispatch its male anti-hero in more ways than one. ``Look at Me,'' sing the women in the final number, as they advance upon an audience that for much of the show would find it hard to look anywhere else.
 
 

Los Angeles Times October 13, 1999

SMILE: ARNAZ IS BACK IN 'TOWN'

"Arnaz is a throwback in the best sense, a pro with the sort of audience rapport most performers couldn't buy with a fistful of cash...There should always be a place for shows like this, dated and flawed though they are. Especially if they're inhabited by musical comedy practitioners on the order of Lucie Arnaz."
 
 

Applause, October 14, 1999

OPENING NIGHT SHOW IS 'WONDERFUL' FOR MTSC

"The dark-haired practical sister Ruth is played with panache by Lucie Arnaz. Her long, lanky looks and quick contralto contrast with her petite blondsister Eileen, played by Kate Dawson....Lucie delivers the quick punch witthat stands up even 60 years later...

 Arnaz's ability to use her dance skills and comedic timing are wonderfully showcased in the Conga number with Brazilian cadets. She is a fluid dancer,toned and trim and tall..."
 
 

Arcadia Weekly, October 14, 1999

AUDIENCE APPROVES OF MTSC "WONDERFUL"

"From the moment Lucie Arnaz stepped on the stage of the San Gabriel Civic Auditorium, it was clear the audience would warm to this entertainer, whocaptures top attention in every scene, and whose comic delivery, even of somepretty aged lines, was met with unabashed glee."
 
 

San Marino Tribune, October 14, 1999

'WONDERFUL TOWN' MAY LACK A BIT OF 'WONDER' -- BUT IT'S STILL A GOOD SHOW

"Arnaz gives a solid performance and delivers a nifty "100 Easy Ways to Lose a Man." Throwing in a bit of screwball comedy in the Navy yard scene with abunch of Brazilian cadets, she makes the "Conga" routine one of thehighlights of the show. While running down the laundry list of "reporter's"questions to these visiting sailors, she is dancing, being tossed to and froand delivering 100 different facial expressions."
 
 

Glendale Gazette, October 28, 1999

STAR POWER FUELS 'WONDERFUL TOWN'

"Lucie Arnaz delivers charisma, stage presence and star quality in the role of the older sister Ruth. You are simply drawn to her every moment she's onstage. She's a first-rate Broadway belter whose singing and dancing talentsare very nicely showcased. As might be expected, her numbers are the best inthe show: the witty "100 East Ways to Lose a Man," the delightful "Conga"(complete with chorus boys), and the show-stopping "Swing," in which Arnaz'sformidable vocal chops get a workout in a number of styles: jazz, scat, bebopand big-band."