Tintypes

This modest (five performers) musical revue, showcasing nearly 50 American songs from the early years of the 20th century, was a success when it played off-Broadway in 1981, but expired quickly when it moved to the Great White Way itself. Presented here with a taping of the original cast, which featured Jerry Zaks and the late Tony-nominated Lynne Thigpen, the tunes include standards such as "Yankee Doodle Boy,” “Meet Me in St. Louis,” “I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen,” and even “America the Beautiful” as well as many near-forgotten ditties, with Scott Joplin's melodies serving as transitions between scenes. Songs are grouped into segments illustrating various aspects of American culture and history, including the immigrant experience, labor woes, expansionism, and vaudeville, with bits of dialogue interspersed to provide context and some historical personages introduced as emblematic figures--President Theodore Roosevelt, socialist agitator Emma Goldman, and music hall star Anna Held, for example. The cast is talented and enthusiastic, the music catchy, and the jokes--especially in the vaudeville sequence--amusing in a hokey way. Presented in Dolby Digital stereo, Tintypes--as the title suggests--doesn't dig much below the surface of the Ragtime era, but it does prove to be a pleasant, undemanding way to spend a couple of hours. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)