By Bart Greenberg***A show in development; a try-out at The Green Room 42. Intriguing! But on February 7th and 8th, GR 42 played host to a brand new and very original musical, Channing/Tatum with book, music and lyrics by Adam Overett—co-conceived by Zachary Laks and with a little 
assist by Jerry Herman. The show featured a unique genre, mixing together a campy show biz story with a fantasy tale. The evening featured direction by Tye Blue and music direction by Michael Ferrara. The three person cast including Broadway hunk Dan Amboyer, the very busy DeMarius Copes and drag queen royalty Nina West, all of whom provided strong performances, especially considering the very short rehearsal time involved. Music stands and scripts were provided but rarely referred to during the evening.
The plot: Channing Tatum (Amboyer) is frustrated at being treated in Hollywood as nothing more than a hot body and so takes off for Broadway to crash the auditions for a new musical. The producer is totally uninterested and locks him into the St. James Theatre. However, the movie star is not really alone as the house is haunted by the ghost of diva Carol Channing (West), trapped in the site of her greatest triumph, Dolly Levi of Hello, Dolly! (Mary Martin is trapped over at the Lunt Fontanne) until she creates a new Broadway star and then, and only then, can she join her Ephraim in heaven. Despite a massive ego clash and a lot of misunderstandings on 
both side, and some body possession straight out of Ghost, they decide to collaborate to achieve their joint goals. Copes plays a variety of men bouncing in and out of the story: producers, policemen, flight attendants, etc.
Overett provided a varied score performed by a quintet of fine musicians very much in a traditional Broadway vein. Songs such as the musical comedy explosive “Snazz!,” the energetic “Dance, Dance, Dance Like a Disco Diva” and the power ballad “Inside a Man” charted the story and moved it forward. The book contained inside jokes about Barbra Streisand and Elaine Stritch among many others. It will be interesting to see where this developing work goes next.
Watch for it!
