ONE FOR MY BABY set for 9 performances, March 14 to 23, 2025, & if the audience didn’t know they were at the El Portal in the NoHo Arts District, they would think they were watching a smash Broadway musical in NYC.
All Roads Theatre Company presents ONE FOR MY BABY (all photos by Billy Bennight)
It’s easy to praise One For My Baby for being a dazzling new musical that is breathlessly entertaining. The show opens with a big band on stage, packed with amazing musicians launching into a brassy overture that sets the mood for a glamorous bygone era. A lot of wild nights await at the Dreamland nightclub, and the audience is taken on that journey.
After the “Queen of Nightclubs” steps into the spotlight to welcome all to Dreamland, circa 1947, incredible talent fills the stage. Throughout the show the stars and the chorus hold the audience spellbound. All are charismatic singers and dancers who create a must-see musical that must-be Broadway bound.
(l to r) Jess, Amber, Luba, Lana
The heart of the show is the music celebrating composer Harold Arlen. One For My Baby showcases 24 classic Arlen songs including That Old Black Magic, Blues in the Night, Get Happy, Ain’t It The Truth, etc. Almost every number is a big Wow! It features performers who are wickedly seductive with their torch songs, and offers insanely inspired choreography, that is a credit to director/choreographer Scott Thompson.
Lana Gordon
The musical story unfolds following four couples with complicated relationships tied to the Dreamland nightclub. Leading the One For My Baby cast is Lana Gordon as Panama “Queen of Nightclubs,” who weaves “the story of lust, heartbreak, greed and redemption.” Gordon (Hadestown, Chicago) conveys an aura of Lena Horn when she sings I Wonder What Became of Me, and of course Stormy Weather. She brilliantly plays Panama as tough as nails with Dreamland’s shady owner Duke (the solid Phil Pritchard), yet quietly vulnerable seeing him slip away into the arms of new showgirl Kitty (played with impressive depth by Jess Val Ortiz).
Kitty’s starry-eyed boyfriend is Eddie (the awesome Sean McGibbon, with a show-stopping precarious tap dance on the Dreamland bar, singing to the classic Harold Arlen/Johnny Mercer song One For My Baby). Also hot for Eddie is the club’s cigarette girl Ethel (Natalie Holt McDonald, basking the limelight with He Loved Me Till the All-Clear Came).
Luba Mason
Most powerful in the spotlight is Luba Mason (Jekyll and Hyde, How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying) starring as socialite Tess. Singing I’ve Got the World On a String, Mason is mesmerizing as she relentlessly promotes her young lover Rick (sweet singer C.J. Eldred who gets devilish with Satan’s Little Lamb). It then gets messy with Tess and her best friend Meredith (Lianne Marie Dobbs, great at taking a super nasty turn) who duet on Down with Love.
Another main plot couple, club headliners Jackie (Amber Wright, perfection singing When The Sun Comes Out) and Keith (Harris Matthew, whose dancing is inspiring), struggle with their marriage and the mob slipping into their lives.
There are many highlights in this show, but topping the triumphs is the Stormy Weather/ The Man That Got Away number featuring Lana Gordon, Luba Mason, Jess Val Ortiz, and Amber Wright, a fierce foursome who torch the theater with goosebumps.
C.J. Eldred & ensemble
Supported by a 12-piece Big Band (conductor/arranger Fred Barton), other strong principals in the One For My Baby cast of 31 include Luke Steinborn (as Joe, The Bartender), and Eric Toms (Detective Lauretta). A tremendous set frames it all the action with kudos for Paul Black’s set & light design.
(l to r ) Harris, Amber, Lana
All Roads Theatre Company’s ONE FOR MY BABY (book by Scott Thompson & Fred Barton) runs March 14 – 23, 2025 (160 minutes, plus intermission), on the Debbie Reynolds Main Stage at the historic El Portal Theatre, located at 5269 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, California, in the NoHo Arts District. For tickets call 818-508-4200 or go to ElPortalTheatre.com.
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