O.C. Theater Review : A Personable Rogers Gives This ‘Follies’ Its Jollies

Once you get past the fact that “The Will Rogers Follies” doesn’t have much to say about the man himself, or much to do with the real Ziegfeld Follies, it’s pretty easy just to sit back, relax, and go with the current of another Broadway musical aimed at the tired businessman and the expense-account traveler.

All the show aspires to be is a lively, coloring-book valentine to Rogers’ memory, and in that frame of reference it works. It’s especially effective in the reduced scale of this national touring company at Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts.

Speaking anachronistically from today’s viewpoint, Rogers has been brought back by an equally sepulchral Ziegfeld to tell his life story. The brief glimpses he gives--snippets from his youth in Oklahoma, his Wild West show jaunt to South Africa, his years of growing fame in vaudeville, his stardom in the Follies and films--pale beside the show’s production numbers, Ziegfeldian strolls by scantily clad showgirls, a few athletic turns by Will’s “Wranglers” and some nifty lighting by Marcia Madeira.

But what ultimately makes the production watchable and listenable is Bill O’Brien’s personable Rogers. More than some earlier Rogerses, O’Brien has a shy reticence and a natural humor that’s not too far from that winning quality in the real Cherokee Kid. His warm tenor, forceful when it needs to be, is just right for the show’s musical style, but his personality sells the material. He’s the reason to see the show.

As Ziegfeld’s Favorite, Renee Cox Senecal’s flashing, slightly askew smile, and her individualistic musical-comedy vocal delivery, give a lot of classy pizazz to her winning burlesque-styled crossovers and comedy bits.

Rima Sara Szalay makes more of the bland Betty Blake, Rogers’ long-suffering wife, than the script does. Though she handles her tame ballads expertly, her shining, vibrant moment is Blake’s torch-song, “No Man Left for Me.”

Once again the show is almost stolen by two surviving members of the Broadway company. Tom Brackney’s Madcap Mutts in the Wild West Show, funny and savvy show-biz pooches who know where their laughs are, and Tomas Garcilazo’s astounding rope-twirling act are still highlights.

The score fades from memory as soon as you leave the theater. It isn’t high on the list of achievements for either composer Cy Coleman or lyricists Betty Comden and Adolph Green. And Peter Stone’s book obviously took less time. They might have written this show on napkins during cocktail hour. Steven Minning’s direction and choreography give it all the right bounce, the necessary and funny camp moments and pleasant visuals.

* “The Will Rogers Follies,” Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, 12700 Court Drive, Cerritos. Plays nightly through Sunday, 8 p.m.; matinees Saturday and Sunday, 2 p.m. Ends Sunday. $23-$43. (800) 300-4345 or (310) 916-8500. Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes. Bill O’Brien: Will Rogers Rima Sara Szalay: Betty Blake Renee Cox Senecal: Ziegfeld’s Favorite Joe Doyle: Clem Rogers Tomas Garcilazo: The Roper

National touring company of the musical, with book by Peter Stone, music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Directed and choreographed by Steven Minning. Scenic adaptations from Tony Walton’s original: James Fouchard. Original Broadway costume design: Willa Kim. Lighting design: Marcia Madeira. Hair/makeup design: John Jack Curtin. Musical direction: Helen Gregory. Production stage manager: Shari Silberglitt.