Views of the City. . .and A Former Hizzoner

Apparently we’ll have to wait a few years for “Rudy!,” the musical about New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, which most certainly should feature an Act 2 climax (“Rudy’s Turn”) wherein Giuliani and a chorus of angry villagers set fire to the Brooklyn Museum of Art.

Meantime: We’ll always have “Fiorello!”

As Mayor LaGuardia, the beloved, three-term ruler of the kingdom of New York, the Reprise! concert version of the 1959 musical features Tony Danza. “Fiorello!” at Reprise!--how many exclamation points can one project handle? If the results add up to something closer to a semicolon, or an ellipsis, it’s nonetheless fun, and ultimately moving, to hear the Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick score once again.

Headliner Danza is a likable mug who has done a lot in recent years to diversify his portfolio. He has remade himself as a cabaret song-and-dance man in New York, Las Vegas and elsewhere; tested his dramatic mettle on TV shows such as “The Practice,” in deliberate contrast to his familiar “Taxi” persona; and, earlier this Broadway season, taken on Eugene O’Neill in the Kevin Spacey edition of “The Iceman Cometh.”

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Now, Danza dons the signature oversized LaGuardia hat, under Glenn Casale’s direction and the sterling musical direction of Peter Matz. Danza works hard, in an utterly ego-free manner. He doesn’t hog the stage; he barrels through the plentiful and generously proportioned libretto, written by Jerome Weidman and George Abbott.

But in this context, Danza is humble to a fault. He doesn’t yet grab a scene and get a lion’s share out of it. Danza relies on medium-wattage pep. You want him to take an extra moment or two in key encounters, to focus his attack and make the emotional points stick. Also, the “Little Flower” of the show’s title was the sort of scrapper who looked weathered even when he was young. Danza, you suspect, may still be going up for younger brother roles when he’s 90.

“Fiorello!” served as Bock and Harnick’s breakthrough. By a year it followed “The Body Beautiful,” a musical about prizefighters. As theater historian Ken Mandelbaum writes in “Not Since Carrie”: “It is to the credit of [“Fiorello!”] producers Robert Griffith and Harold Prince that they saw through a so-so show to the talent of its songwriters.”

After the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Fiorello!” Bock and Harnick wrote “She Loves Me,” one of the most charming musicals ever, and “Fiddler on the Roof,” which is more like a monument--the soundtrack of so many weddings and bar mitzvahs--than a mere musical.

“Fiorello!” hasn’t that sort of heft. It has a firm display of craft, however. The wry commentaries “Politics and Poker” and “Little Tin Box” hold up best. Here, those back-room gems are led by LaGuardia crony Ben Marino, played by the Reprise! cast standout, Lenny Wolpe.

Jennifer Westfeldt portrays Fiorello’s first wife, Thea, in a blandly acted but prettily sung performance. Fiorello’s loyal co-worker and late-inning love interest, Marie, is played by Amy Pietz, the snarky best friend on “Caroline in the City.” Her voice is small, but she’s an easy and witty presence. Ron Orbach is solidly professional as LaGuardia underling Morris, who never seems to get home in time for his wife’s pot roast.

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Opening night, producing artistic director Marcia Seligson introduced “Fiorello!” composer Bock before the performance. The applause was sustained and deserved. Giving voice to New York reformers (“Fiorello!” and “Tenderloin”), a Budapest perfume shop (“She Loves Me”) or a milkman (“Fiddler”), Bock and Harnick worked supple, characterful Broadway magic.

The age that spawned “Fiorello!” has passed. But the score’s peak achievements have hung in there. Even with some problematic casting, the Reprise! airing at least brings those songs back alive.

And “Rudy!”--or, closer to home, “Riordan!”--may yet buck-and-wing its way onto a stage.

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* “Fiorello!,” Reprise! Broadway’s Best in Concert, Freud Playhouse, Macgowan Hall, UCLA, Tuesdays-Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. (plus 8 p.m. this Sunday). Ends Nov. 21. $45-$50. (310) 825-2101. Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes.

Tony Danza: Fiorello LaGuardia

Amy Pietz: Marie

Jennifer Westfeldt: Thea

Lenny Wolpe: Ben

Ron Orbach: Morris

Brian Stepanek: Neil

Susanne Blakeslee: Dora

Mike Hagerty: Floyd

Pamela Blair: Mitzi

Book by Jerome Weidman and George Abbott. Music by Jerry Bock. Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick. Directed by Glenn Casale. Musical director Peter Matz. Choreography by Kay Cole. Set by Gary Wissmann. Costumes by David R. Zyla. Lighting by Tom Rizuika and Steven Young. Sound by Philip G. Allen. Stage manager Ronn Goswick.