lovesclassics Reviews

Diagnosis Murder: A Mime Is a Terrible Thing to Waste (1997) Season 5, Episode 11

Rachel York is great in this!

[10/10 · 22 June 2007]

This had to be one of the funniest episodes ever written for Diagnosis Murder. Rachel York as Randy Wolfe brought great comic timing and chemistry to the show. Her quirky but lovable pain in the butt really got under Steve's skin! I understand this was a pilot for a spin-off series. I really wish it had materialized. I could just see her taking on different characters to solve murder cases - like a younger, hipper, sexier Jessica Fletcher. I suspect the plan for the show was to move from city to city, maybe even country to country, so that Randy could have ended up interfering with but ultimately solving murder cases in exotic locales. I'll bet they would have had her clash with handsome detectives in every police department she encountered. I hope someday soon Rachel does land a TV series. She deserves to be the star in her own show.

lc

Numb3rs: Traffic (2006) Season 3, Episode 5

Stronger than most I've seen

[9/10 · 28 October 2006]

This episode gripped me more than others I've seen because it seemed to get more personal. I really engaged with the family that was at the center of the storyline. The mother (played by guest star Rachel York) and the younger son were especially sympathetic. I also thought that the math came across as less academic in this episode. It hit on themes that are familiar to everyone. The show seems to be moving in a direction that reveals more of the human side of its regular characters. Don, in particular, really connected with the family, especially the mother. He seemed to want to catch the freeway attacker not just because it's his job but also to put the mother and her two sons at ease.

Victor/Victoria (1995 TV Movie)

Egregiously Overlooked? Yes, Indeed!

[9/10 · 9 September 2003]

This video of the stage production of "Victor/Victoria" preserves what is likely to be the last Broadway performance of a living legend of the musical theater - Julie Andrews. Complications from vocal chord surgery performed not long after Dame Andrews left this production damaged her singing voice, probably permanently. The opportunity to see her in this historic Broadway performance should therefore not be missed by any of her fans.

The show isn't perfect. It gets off to a bit of a slow start with a moody opening number, "Paris By Night," then it takes a while for the story to unfold. There is a bit more exposition than is necessary, and the show really doesn't get into full swing until Julie and company's notable "Le Jazz Hot." From that point on, however, "Victor/Victoria" accelerates, and the laughs come quickly and often.

The energy boost is thanks in large part to the comic genius of Drama Desk Award Winner Rachel York as the dizzy blond gangster moll, Norma Cassidy. She takes the Oscar-winning role created in the 1982 movie version by Lesley Ann Warren and makes it her own. She finds the vulnerable core underneath the crass exterior and turns Norma into a lovable lunatic. Her timing is perfection, and the unexpected little twists in her delivery and physicality delight at every turn. She almost steals the show, but not quite. What she does accomplish, however, is to give Ms. Andrews a venerable foil. When the two of them are onstage together, the chemistry is electric. They have a tango toward the end of the first act that is one of the funniest pieces of choreography ever staged.

All the dance numbers are stellar, in fact. Credit goes to Rob Marshall, who has now become famous for his direction of the Academy Award winning movie adaptation of "Chicago." Every bit of choreography sizzles as the audience watches and wonders just which dancers are men and which are women.

While Michael Nouri as Victor/Victoria's love interest, King Marchan, may be considered the weak link in this cast (he just doesn't have the befuddled charisma that James Garner had in the movie), he sings and acts well enough to carry his share of the load. Tony Roberts is wonderfully droll as Victor's gay mentor, Toddy, and Greg Jbara is quite likeable as King's bodyguard, Squash. He offers up more than one surprise during the course of the evening.

By the time the last laugh is had, the audience is on its feet cheering for a landmark performance by one of the musical theater's all time greats. This reviewer has to agree with Ms. Andrews' own comments about Victor/Victoria. The entire show, and in particular cast member Rachel York, were egregiously overlooked by the Tony's.

Mad Dog Coll (1992)

Don't Be Fooled by the Low Budget

[5/10 · 9 September 2003]

Despite the fact that this movie is yet another retelling of gangland life during the Prohibition era, the smart performances by the four leads raise this low-budget film above the standard B-movie fare. In particular, it is interesting to see a young Rachel York of recent "Lucy" and "Kiss Me, Kate" fame turn what could have been a stereotypical gun moll/nightclub singer portrayal into a multi-dimensional and heartfelt performance of a 20-something woman whose experiences have made her much older than her years.

While the screenplay lacks depth, the actors do not. The fluid direction and crisp camera work also put this movie on a par with more expensive mainstream ventures. The story won't really tell you anything new about the psyches of killers like the Cole brothers or Dutch Schultz. But the actors who portray them - Christopher Bradley, Jeff Griggs, and Bruce Nozick - give it their all. Their performances are earnest. They do not play caricatures.

If you enjoy discovering surprisingly good acting in less than perfect films, "Killer Instinct" is worth the view. An added bonus is that you get to hear Rachel York sing. She has a terrific voice and she stylizes beautifully. She is the strongest selling point for seeing this film.

Great Performances: Kiss Me Kate (2003) Season 31, Episode 9

The definitive production and performances by the leads!

[10/10 · 30 May 2003]

This is a glorious production of "Kiss Me, Kate." Rachel York and Brent Barrett each bring an underlying tenderness to their characters that makes you ache to see them get back together in the end. Sure, they rant and rave and fight like wildcats, but never do you forget that they love each other. Too many productions of this very funny show make the leads one dimensional and totally unlikable, acting as if they hate each other. This production, directed and performed throughout with tremendous energy and skill, is first and foremost a love story. Everything else - the tongue-in-cheek humor, singing, dancing, orchestration, and even slapstick - is consistent with the passion that emanates from the two leads.

And the two leads are superb. Rachel York has a vocal range that is unequalled in musical theater today. She sings her torchy version of "So In Love" with a heartbreaking sincerity, then belts her "I Hate Men" with raucous wild abandon. She then reaches the stratosphere with her amazing coloratura soprano in her screamingly funny rendition of "Kiss Me, Kate." Brent Barrett proves to be her match every step of the way. He infuses his "Were Thine That Special Face" and reprise of "So in Love" with absolute adoration, but also demonstrates unbridled machismo in "I've Come to Wive It Wealthily in Padua" and "Where Is the Life That Late I Led."

The entire cast keeps up with the pace set by York and Barrett. The show never lets down, and everyone seems to be having great good fun with the unrepressed music and lyrics of Cole Porter. This PBS version of "Kiss Me, Kate" will undoubtedly prove to be a classic, with the performances by Rachel York and Brent Barrett considered definitive. This Broadway revival will be the standard against which all other Kates are sure to be measured. It's a winner.

Lucy (2003 TV Movie)

Rachel York was fantastic in "Lucy"

[9/10 · 24 May 2003]

I thought Rachel York was fantastic as "Lucy." I have seen her in "Kiss Me, Kate" and "Victor/Victoria," as well, and in each of these performances she has developed very different, and very real, characterizations. She is a chameleon who can play (and sing) anything!

I am very surprised at how many negative reviews appear here regarding Rachel's performance in "Lucy." Even some bonafide TV and entertainment critics seem to have missed the point of her portrayal. So many people have focused on the fact that Rachel doesn't really look like Lucy. My response to that is, "So what?" I wasn't looking for a superficial impersonation of Lucy. I wanted to know more about the real woman behind the clown. And Rachel certainly gave us that, in great depth. I also didn't want to see someone simply "doing" classic Lucy routines. Therefore I was very pleased with the decision by the producers and director to have Rachel portray Lucy in rehearsal for the most memorable of these skits - Vitameatavegamin and The Candy Factory. (It seems that some of the reviewers didn't realize that these two scenes were meant to be rehearsal sequences and not the actual skits). This approach, I thought, gave an innovative twist to sketches that so many of us know by heart. I also thought Rachel was terrifically fresh and funny in these scenes. And she absolutely nailed the routines that were recreated - the Professor and the Grape Stomping, in particular. There was one moment in the Grape scene where the corner of Rachel's mouth had the exact little upturn that I remember Lucy having. I couldn't believe she was able to capture that - and so naturally.

I wonder if many of the folks who criticized the performance were expecting to see the Lucille Ball of "I Love Lucy" throughout the entire movie. After all, those of us who came to know her only through TV would not have any idea what Lucy was really like in her early movie years. I think Rachel showed a natural progression in the character that was brilliant. She planted all the right seeds for us to see the clown just waiting to emerge, given the right set of circumstances. Lucy didn't fit the mold of the old studio system. In her frustrated attempts to become the stereotypical movie star of that era, she kept repressing what would prove to be her ultimate gifts.

I believe that Rachel deftly captured the comedy, drama, wit, sadness, anger, passion, love, ambition, loyalty, sexiness, self absorption, childishness, and stoicism all rolled into one complex American icon. And she did it with an authenticity and freshness that was totally endearing. "Lucy" was a star turn for Rachel York. I hope it brings a flood of great roles her way in the future. I also hope it brings her an Emmy.