Howard Crabtree's When Pigs Fly has emerged as one of the biggest hits on Broadway or off (it's at the Douglas Fairbanks on 42nd Street's Theater Row). Critics showered it with accolades, and audiences, who roar with laughter, return in droves. It's a small company, but they pack the wallop of three Broadway musicals. There are no crashing chandeliers or whirling helicopters, but there are some spectacular, colorful and hilarious costumes.
Michael West, who portrays the alter ego of creator Howard Crabtree, provides the musical revue's drive. He's certainly no stranger to making people laugh. His long-running show, Michael West...Together At Last, caused one critic in his hometown to dub him "The Funniest Man In Atlanta." New Yorkers, gay, straight, and in-between -- with a generous dollop of tourists, now that word has spread and RCA has released the cast album -- are dubbing West and troupe the funniest men in New York or anywhere. "For my one-man show, I did satirical impersonations that evolved from my fascination [with] the dinosaurs of show business," said Michael. "You know, Steve and Eydie, Liberace, Jerry Lewis, Liza, and Sammy Davis Jr."
Success with that show brought West to New York, at age 30, in 1990, where he did a workshop at Greenwich Village's famed Duplex and was spotted by an agent. "He told me to move to New York if I wanted to get my show on, so I did." West did cabaret, "but I found it difficult. However, it's what got me to this point." Philip George, who directed Crabtree's off-Broadway hit Whoop-Dee-Doo!, caught West and cast him in that running revue. "That led to Forbidden Hollywood, which Philip directed. He said, `You've got to sing for Gerard' (Alessandrini, the genius also behind the various editions of Forbidden Broadway)." West was hired as a standby, "but I got to go on a lot." He joined the company for a Japanese tour, "where I was dubbed `The Tallest Man In Tokyo.' And I'm not extraordinarily tall!" The six-foot West added, "but there you don't have to be." That five-week tour was performed in English with Japanese projected in supertitles. "When I'd look into the audience, they were looking to the left as opposed to looking at us. They love American culture there, a lot more than we do, so we went over big. At first that was hard to tell. They're so polite and not the least bit boisterous. When they laughed, they'd cover their mouths and I'd want to say, 'Please!' However, at the end, they were quite enthusiastic."
There's no trouble with people, whatever their language, "getting the jokes in When Pigs Fly. It's visually stunning, and of course, we're not subtle! It's a great show and all of us feel so lucky. The best thrill is standing up there and hearing that laughter. Sometimes, when another one of us is in the spotlight, and I can take a quick look out into the audience, I'm amazed. There are people literally laughing in the aisles. Is there anything better?"
The revue, which in May won Drama Desk and Outer Critics Awards for Best Musical Revue and Best Costumes and a special citation from the Obies (Off-Broadway's top award), gets enormous return business. A national tour is being planned. "The key to the show's success is that it leaves audiences feeling really good," said Michael. West met Howard Crabtree, who died last June, in Whoop-Dee-Doo!, "and we clicked right away. I loved his sense of humor, both as a person and in his sewing (he created all the now famous and much-talked-about costumes for both shows). And he had a great love for theater and film. He's very much missed, and not only by me."
When Pigs Fly also stars Stanley Bojarski, John Tracy Egan, David Pevsner, and Jay Rodgers.
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