Dames at Sea Sails Off

-
Dames at Sea cast, photo by Jeremy Daniel
From a financial standpoint the revival of Dames at Sea at the Helen Hayes Theater was an unmitigated disaster. The show opened in October to lukewarm reviews and sold poorly even in the 597-seat theater. This 1968 musical originally gained fame when a certain Bernadette Peters played Ruby and then shot to stardom herself, which echoed Ruby's storyline. But in the current revival it was unable to gain any traction, and today it played its final show, which I attended. At least the show got a good send-off -- the theater cheered loudly after every number.


Personally I thought it was an absolutely lovely, charming little show that should have done much better at the box office. The fact that it closed almost as soon as it opened says more about the blockbuster-or-bust mentality on Broadway rather than the quality of the show. Director and choreographer Randy Skinner treats the show with obvious affection. The opening, which was played with a movie-style projector and black and white credits rolling, immediately set the mood for this deliberately nostalgic stroll into 1930's Hollywood. Yes the jokes are rather corny but this affectionate parody/tribute to golden age style musicals was always entertaining, and had absolutely great tap dancing by the six-person cast. Musical theater nerds can hear how many of the George Haimsohn's songs and Robin Miller lyrics are derivatives of some classics -- the opening number "Wall Street" sounds exactly like "42nd Street" and "That Mister Man of Mine" has more than a passing resemblance to Gershwin's "The Man I Love. Novices can just enjoy the upbeat song-and-tap routines including the wonderful production number "Star Tar" where Ruby finally gets to show off her tap-dancing chops.

One of the best parts of Dames at Sea is the gentle parody of the "exotic numbers" that used to be par for course in these musicals. "Singapore Sue" is a little cringe-worthy with all the Asian stereotypes but "The Echo Waltz" is an ingenious send-up of "The Shadow Waltz," that famous moment in The Gold Diggers when a group of showgirls does a Viennese waltz down the stairs, violins and all.

Echo Waltz, photo by Sara Krulwich



In fact, many of the song-and-dance numbers are so good on their own that you don't need to know anything about Busby Berkeley musicals to enjoy Dames at Sea. Most people will recognize the show-business tropes like Ruby (a spunky Eloise Kropp) who just got off the bus from Utah and voila! finds herself backstage at a musical, or sailors who magically are also great songwriters and tap dancers (Cary Tedder as Dick and Danny Gardner at Lucky were fabulous), or Joan, the tough-talking showgirl with a heart of gold (Mara Davi, probably the stand-out in the cast), or the aging prima diva Mona Kent (Lesli Margherita), or Hennesey (John Bolton, who also doubled as Captain Courageous), whose struggling Broadway theater has produced "twelve flops" and has to close.

I left the theater with the same irrepressible hope of Ruby/Hennesey/Dick/Joan/Lucky/Mona that Dames at Sea can eventually find an off-Broadway home, where it probably belongs and where it'd be more appreciated. Bon voyage!

Here's a brief video I took of the curtain calls:


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

COVIDammerung -- The End of the World in Met Streams

-
Image
The Norns say it's the end of the world! The nightly Met streams continue this week. Someone behind the dial at the Met must have a dark sense of humor -- for the first week of streaming they included La Boheme and La Traviata , two operas where the heroine dies of a specific infectious respiratory illness that was often acquired by lack of social distancing. This week they are doing an all-Wagner week which happens to include ... wait for it ... Götteradamerung . So try to forget the fact that the Met season has been canceled ! Try to forget that everyone in NY and NJ is essentially locked in our houses ! At the Met website we can watch the End of the World! Without further ado, here are some of my totally irrelevant musings on the Met HD offerings this week. Either way, these Wagner operas are great cleaning routines. You can disinfect your residence three times over BEFORE the first intermission:
Read more

Comparing Nutcrackers Across the Pond

-
Image
Battle of the Nutcrackers: U.S. vs. England This December season I had my usual annual ritual of putting aside money for two extremely crucial things -- a Christmas bonus for my building super and money on  Nutcracker  tickets. NYCB's  Nutcracker  is my annual Christmas binge -- every year I check out some new dancers, and see my old favorites. This year I saw four different SPF/Cavalier pairings. Truth be told, only one was the kind of transcendent, joyful complete performance that made me leave the theater on a high. The others all had some major flaws. But still, for the joy it brings me year after year, Balanchine's  Nutcracker  is unrivaled. Balanchine's classic version However this year I also decided to sample a Nutcracker cinema relay from across the pond -- Sir Peter Wright's Nutcracker for the Royal Ballet. The Wright Nutcracker this year starred Gary Avis as Drosselmeyer, Anne Rose O'Sullivan and Marcellino Sambé as Clara and Nutcra
Read more

The Mechanical Flute

-
Image
  In September 1791, a sickly Mozart conducted the premiere of The Magic Flute . Something about the mix of fairy tale magic, humor, and the sunny, eternally catchy music made the opera a huge hit. It has remained this way ever after. Audiences loved it then and love it now. It takes a lot for me to dislike a performance of The Magic Flute/Die Zauberflöte . The new production by Simon McBurney (as opposed to the abbreviated holiday version of the Julie Taymor production trotted out nearly every year) was high on my list of most anticipated events of the 22-23 season. The solo flutist, photo @ Karen Almond The evening was, however, decidedly unmagical. Simon McBurney's production (which has actually been around since 2012 and staged throughout Europe) seems determined to display all the mechanics behind the magic. We walk in and see two booths on either side of the stage. On one side is the video projection artist. On the other side is the sound effects specialist. After awhile, eye
Read more