The amazing Jim Dale has written and performs in his one-man, autobiographical English Musical Hall show, Just Jim Daleat the Roundabout’s Laura Pels Theater. As he recounts his show-business life story as a singer, dancer, comedian, actor, impressionist and mime, Dale illustrates with numbers from his Broadway and other shows. He has a vivid physical agility that is very rare today, especially for a man nearing his 79th birthday.
As an eighty-five year old who has been doing mime for over 60 years and is now the oldest mime in the world, I can tell you, the kid is phenomenal. He’s a great entertainer with a twinkle in his eyes, and accompanied on piano by the fast-fingered Mark York, all nimbly directed by Richard Maltby.
I’ve never seen a better one-person show. Just Jim Dale cooks from start to finish, and I can’t get the song “Georgie Girl,” for which he wrote the lyrics, out of my head. Miss it and you miss the best there is.
