"Mexican Hayride" is a Cole Porter musical that hasn't been seen in New York since 1944, when it ran for a year with great success. It featured whopping cast of 99 performers and was later made into a feature film starring Abbott and Costello (though it included little of the original script, and none of the songs). It's silly, campy, and harmless fun from a bygone era -- and it has now been revived for a run on 42nd Street by Musicals Tonight.
Musicals Tonight is a New York production company whose noble mission is to revive neglected musicals and make them affordable. Over the past 16 years they've produced over 70 musicals with tickets only $25. In these "staged concerts", the performers -- usually with their scripts held in one hand -- wear minimal to full costumes; the sets tend to be simple, yet effective.
Given the limitations, the Musicals Tonight version of "Mexican Hayride" was very nicely produced. Thanks to the talents of the cast, it was easy to forget that the scripts were onstage and become caught up in the action. M. X. Soto, in particular, gives a stellar lead performance as Humphrey, the man who flees to Mexico, hiding from the Feds. Soto embraces the best of Lou Costello and Don Rickles with a knockout performance full of energy and non-stop laughs -- even from less-than-perfect dialogue. He is able to make nearly anything funny and entertaining, a true gift.
In the show, Humphrey convinces his new partner, Lombo, to start a con game down in Mexico. Kudos go to David Marmanillo, who plays Lombo with great comedic timing and a wonderful sense of banter. Eventually, they are caught by a federal agent, played by Jacob L. Smith, who does a wonderful job with the song "I Love You", the one Cole Porter song to become a hit from this show. Smith has a naturally commanding presence and a beautiful singing voice. His love interest, a female bullfighter played by Jessica Wagner, similarly takes charge of the stage every time she is allowed to belt out a song. Amie Bermowitz sweeps onstage as the Russian Dagmar with great dramatic flair and a wonderful singing voice, and Natalie Ramirez tops it all off with a lovely soprano voice in the role of Lolita.
Kudos also goes out to Artistic Director Mel Miller, not only for producing such works, but also for his terrific opening remarks. Miller unassumingly starts off the evening with fun facts about the time period and really sets the stage, both literally and figuratively, for the rest of the show. Without this introduction, the evening wouldn't be nearly as strong.
Even if you miss "Mexican Hayride", you can still see other terrific shows all year long. Musicals Tonight has new shows all the time, and also produces "At This Performance" – a series designed to allow talented Broadway standbys and understudies to sing their shows’ current musical hits. Check out our event listing for the series here: https://www.stagebuddy.com/listingdetail.php?lid=15703, and find more info on Musicals Tonight's upcoming shows on their website: https://www.musicalstonight.org
