Lee Roy Reams, 70, is truly an-fashioned song and dance man. He put on a terrific one night show that flowed well at 54 Below earlier this week performing selections from some of his Broadway shows including Hello, Dolly, 42nd Street, Sweet Charity and La Cage Aux Folles. Reams’ opening with an uptune, “Lullaby of Broadway,” was strong and set the pace for an entertaining evening. His musical numbers were interspersed with amusing and candid Broadway anecdotes.His repertoire included “Real Live Girl,” the first song he ever did in Vegas, a “Hello Dolly Medley” concluding with an enthusiastic rendition of “Before The Parade Passes By,” and a ballad, “I Only Have Eyes For You,” which he dedicated to Ruby Keeler, whose daughter, Kathy, was in the audience. His Dolly take-off of Carol Channing was hilarious as was“La Cage Aux Folles,” where he playfully swung around a fiery red boa, exclaiming, “I’m a show whore.” Generally he was at his best in the upbeat selections including a Fosse “Sweet Charity Medley” which builds to the fabulous “If My Friends Could See Me Now.”
Reams laughed at himself and related how his mother used to say, “I’ve got three girls, three boys and Lee Roy.” This wonderful six foot tall raconteur introduced his show biz friends in the audience including Penny Fuller, Marilyn Maye, Len Cariou and Anita Gillette. The Kentucky born song and dance man related anecdotes about his early auditions in NYC and some of those bold faced names he worked with–Juliet Prowse, Bob Fosse, Dorothy Fields, Jerry Orbach and Gower Champion.
He concluded his performance with “The Best of Times,” inviting the audience to “join in so Jerry Herman could hear it in Miami Beach.”