Also this issue: Momma Drama David Wise channels his grandmas into a show with everything and the kitchen sink. -Debra Auspitz Jazz It Up -Juliet Fletcher Trio with Brio -David Shengold Get Lost -Toby Zinman Q&A with Merián Soto -Interview by Deni Kasrel Cry Havoc -Toby Zinman PROK -David Anthony Fox Tied with Strings Edward Said and Daniel Barenboim ponder music’s place in the world. -Andrew Ervin

January 23-29, 2003

artpicks

Street Smart

Decades before 42nd Street was (in)famous for its transformation from porn ghetto to squeaky-clean family theme park, it was synonymous with the golden age of Broadway.

Appropriately, the 1933 film musical 42nd Street established a treasured theatrical myth -- the chorus girl who becomes an overnight Broadway star -- as a metaphor for the ability of plucky Americans to topple an unfair class system, and a fantasy example of instant, transformative success. Equally wondrous are the snappy Harry Warren/Al Dubin songs ("Shuffle Off to Buffalo" and of course "42nd Street") and Busby Berkeley's dances.

In 1980, two showmen, producer David Merrick and director/choreographer Gower Champion, brought a stage version of 42nd Street "back home" to Broadway. The production built on and exceeded the film's visual splendor. (It also had its own lore of triumph and tragedy -- Champion died just hours before opening night.) The show was a smash, running nearly 3,500 performances.

Now, 20 years after its Broadway debut -- 70 years after the movie! -- 42nd Street is back. The current revival is nearly three years old and still going strong, both in New York and on a national tour. Clearly, the mythology and charm are untarnished by time.

Come and meet these dancing feet!

42nd Street, Jan. 28­Feb. 9, $42-$75, Merriam Theater, 250 S. Broad St., 215-336-2000.

—David Anthony Fox