STEPHEN KEARLEY reviews 42nd STREET at Sharon Playhouse
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “A toe-tapping knockout.” -Stephen Kearley, The BroadGAYS
Harry Warren, Al Dubin, Michael Stewart, and Mark Bramble’s 42nd Street is playing at Sharon Playhouse in Sharon, Connecticut, through August 9.
Set during the Great Depression, the musical follows Peggy Sawyer, a nervous young performer from Allentown who arrives in New York hoping to land her first Broadway job. She misses the audition, talks her way into the company anyway, and soon finds herself in the chorus of “Pretty Lady,” a massive new musical being directed by the demanding Julian Marsh. When leading lady Dorothy Brock is injured, Peggy is handed the opportunity every chorus performer dreams about, along with roughly one night to learn the entire show without dying.
This was my first visit to Sharon Playhouse, and it certainly will not be my last.
From the moment we arrived, everything was remarkably organized. The staff and volunteers were among the friendliest I have encountered at any theater, and the entire afternoon felt welcoming before the show even began. Then the cast launched into the opening audition sequence, and Sharon Playhouse made it very clear that nobody had invited us all the way to Sharon, Connecticut, for some halfhearted shuffle-ball-change.
Amy Van Norstrand’s choreography is the centerpiece of this production. The opening tap sequence is so clean and precise that I found myself watching individual feet, amazed that nobody ever slipped out of formation. The large ensemble numbers are sharp, beautifully arranged, and performed with the kind of precision that makes an audience understand exactly how much work has gone into making something look effortless.
And there is a lot of tapping. Glorious, relentless tapping.
The title number and the other large production sequences are the kind of old-school musical-theater spectacles that can look painfully dated when they are performed without enough commitment. Here, the entire company throws itself into them. Sharon Playhouse does not try to drag 42nd Street into the present day or apologize for what it is. They give it a terrific cast, magnificent costumes, a strong orchestra, and enough energy to prove that the old-fashioned approach still works when everyone onstage is this good.
Gabi Stapula makes Peggy immediately likable without turning her into a helpless little waif waiting for Broadway to discover her. She is funny, warm, and completely believable as someone frightened by the size of the opportunity in front of her but talented enough to survive it. She also has a beautiful voice and handles the enormous physical demands of the role with impressive confidence.
Michael F. McGuirk gives Julian Marsh plenty of authority, but he does not play him as a screaming monster from beginning to end. There is genuine affection beneath all that Broadway-director fury, especially once he begins preparing Peggy for opening night.
His famous pep talk could easily become a slab of old theatrical melodrama. McGuirk gives it enough sincerity that it becomes unexpectedly sweet, even when Julian announces, “By tomorrow night I’ll either have a live leading lady or a dead chorus girl.”
Nothing calms a terrified young performer quite like the possibility of dying for musical theater.
Savannah Stevenson’s Dorothy Brock is glamorous, demanding, and very funny without becoming a complete caricature. Dorothy may arrive with a contract, a wealthy financial backer, a dressing room full of requirements, and no particular desire to audition for anyone, but Stevenson also gives her enough humanity that her later scenes with Peggy carry real weight.
Before Peggy goes on, Dorothy tells her to “be so swell you’ll make me hate you.” Stevenson lets the joke land, but she also makes it clear that Peggy’s dream is arriving on the same night Dorothy may be watching her own career disappear.
After the performance, Julian calls Peggy “the million-to-one shot that comes home a winner.” McGuirk makes the moment feel less like one more enormous Broadway declaration and more like a man realizing that all his impossible demands actually worked.
The entire company sings beautifully. When the full cast joins together, the sound is rich and powerful without becoming a competition to see who can hold the loudest note the longest. Ian Black brings plenty of charm to Billy Lawlor, while Amy Wilson and Rudd Anderson keep the backstage comedy moving without treating every joke like it needs to be beaten to death.
Kathleen DeAngelis’ costumes are fabulous. The gowns, chorus looks, rehearsal clothes, and enormous parade of sparkling production costumes all appear carefully designed rather than pulled together from whatever happened to be sitting in storage. “We’re in the Money” is a particular visual standout, but the costumes throughout the evening keep finding new ways to become even more elaborate.
There were a few early-performance sound problems. Several lines disappeared because microphones did not switch on quickly enough, which briefly made it seem like parts of conversations had simply been removed. It happened more than once, but this is also the sort of issue that often gets corrected as a new production settles into its run.
The orchestra deserves its own praise. Under Eric Thomas Johnson’s music direction, the nine-piece ensemble sounds full, lively, and far larger than nine musicians. The score has warmth and personality, and even smaller moments of underscoring, particularly the clarinet beneath one of Julian’s later speeches, add considerably to the scene without begging for attention.
I also did something I almost never do at the theater: I ordered a drink during intermission. The prices were so reasonable that we had to try the mimosa, and it was poured exactly the way I like, which means someone understood that the orange juice is there for decorative purposes only.
Sharon Playhouse sells every glorious minute of this unapologetically old-fashioned Broadway musical.
The production is joyful, beautifully sung, spectacularly danced, and dressed within an inch of its life. My first trip to Sharon Playhouse could not have made a stronger impression.
As Peggy might say, it would be grand, grand, grand if I came back.
And I will.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
For tickets and more information: www.sharonplayhouse.org
Sharon Playhouse
49 Amenia Road
Sharon, Connecticut
Running through August 9, 2026
CAST:
Robert Mintz - Andy Lee
Amy Wilson - Maggie Jones
Rudd Anderson - Bert Barry
Alex Wilbur - Mac
Liesl Landegger - Phyllis Dale
Liana Nicole Monaco - Lorraine Fleming
Lily Anderson - Diane Lorimer
Sasha Spitz - Ethel
Savannah Wright - Gladys
Michelle Lemon - Ann Reilly
Ian Black - Billy Lawlor
Gabi Stapula - Peggy Sawyer
Michael F. McGuirk - Julian Marsh
Savannah Stevenson - Dorothy Brock
Payton Turpin - Abner Dillon
Landon Zwick - Pat Denning
Larry Toyter - Waiter, Doctor
Isaiah Mayhew - Thug
Ensemble - Lily Anderson, Nathan Ayotte, Jack Canevari, Liesl Landegger, Isaiah Mayhew, Liana Nicole Monaco, Sasha Spitz, Larry Toyter, Savannah Wright, Landon Zwick
Teen Ensemble - Andy Delgado, Caitlyn Kops, Liam Reynolds, Christian Sciarrillo, Mia Tonon, Brianna Vivace, Alex Wilbur
CREATIVE TEAM:
Harry Warren - Music
Al Dubin - Lyrics
Michael Stewart & Mark Bramble - Book
Bradford Ropes - Based on the Novel
Carl Andress - Director
Amy Van Norstrand - Choreographer
Eric Thomas Johnson - Music Director
Christopher Swader & Justin Swader - Scenic Design
Kathleen DeAngelis - Costume Design
Wheeler Moon - Lighting Design
Graham Stone - Sound Design
Bobbie Zlotnik - Wig & Makeup Design
Meredith Yoho - Technical Director
Perseis J. Grant - Production Manager
Madeleine Carroll - Audio Engineer
Judy Bowman, CSA - Casting Director
Kristine Schlachter - Production Stage Manager
Amelia Hastings - Assistant Stage Manager
Sarah Kozma - Production Photos
ORCHESTRA:
Eric Thomas Johnson - Conductor/Keyboard
Eric Wagner - Percussion
Rich Conley - Reed I
David Radovich - Reed II
Louis Bonifati - Reed III
James Osborn - Trumpet I
David Pratt - Trumpet II
Walter Barrett - Trombone
Mike Lee - Bass