JUST  JIM  DALE  at Roundabout's Laura Pels Theatre

(Seen May 20, 2014)


Jim Dale is most personable, and an utmost consummate performer.  He is comfortable singing, dancing, acting, and telling stories.  His new one-person show (plus an enthusiastic pianist --- Mark York), which Dale has written for himself, is not only completely entertaining, but also very revelatory.

Even though I have interviewed Jim Dale a number of times in the past, I learned new aspects of his very creative life.  Other than his highly respected Broadway work and classical forays in London, he mostly talked about his music hall training and his work as a "busker".  I never knew he was a composer, nor that he wrote the lyrics for GEORGY GIRL, among other hits,

As he tells us about the steps in his career, he is totally at ease recounting the foibles and successes in his professional life.  And Richard Maltby Jr.'s seamless direction is happily invisible.

JUST JIM DALE is a triumph as a theatre piece, blending his many talents into a wonderful evening of theatre,