“Dames at Sea”

The story is about a young chorus girl who comes to New York for her chance to be in a Broadway play. Ruby ( a delightful performance by Melody Rowland) meets a young sailor, Dick ( deftly handled by Beck Hokanson) and they quickly fall in love. It turns out Dick is a songwriter and has a number of tunes that he wants to bring to the stage. The play they are doing is called “Dames at Sea” and the major star is Mona (Ciara Jarvis plays this role to perfection).The director Hennesey ( Joe Bushell) decides to put Ruby in the show as he is reminded they are down one chorus girl by Joan ( Elizabeth Bushell is a dynamo).

It turns out that Joan has a boyfriend, Lucky ( Peter Kattner III, who is quite a tap dancer) and he is a ship mate of Dick. Mona finds herself enchanted by the songs that Dick has written and flirts with him a lot. Ruby is quite jealous and we see lots of friction between them as they seek the love of this young sailor.

The other girls in the show are quite solid, Maya Paletta ( who is also dance captain), Catherine Athenson, Kate Drury and Edith Morse-O’Rourke. they can tap ! As the story progresses, it turns out that the theater they are in is about to be torn down ( on opening night, no less) and there will be no show. Heavens to Betsy! What is Ruby to do? Her first Broadway show and NO SHOW!

Dick to the rescue! The show is about “Dames at Sea”, so why not perform the show on their ship? That is what thye do. They move to the ship as they start act Two.  Interestingly, this play has two 40 minute acts with another 10 minute intermission so they can convert a Broadway stage are to a Navy ship. The set by Bob Knuth is cleverly done and the small stage with 8-10 dancers works! By the way, choreographer/director Gregg Denhardt nails it. I have never seen so many tap dancing feet on such a small stage be as effective as this production is. There are lots of tap dance numbers, so if you’re into tap, THIS IS YOUR SHOW!

They have to get past their Captain to do the play, and it turns out that the Captain ( the very funny Steve McDonagh) knew Mona when she had a different name and persona. He is hooked on her and whatever Mona wants, Mona gets! As the story progresses, jealousy enters the story and once again, Ruby is threatened by Mona, so Joan and Lucky make it impossible for Mona to finish the show, leaving only Ruby to take the lead ( there is not explanation as to how and when she learned any of these numbers)  and finish the show. She does. Lucky and Joan get married! The Captain and Mona get married! Dick and Ruby get married! everybody lives happily ever after!

On a side note: Bernadette Peters got her start playing Ruby in this play!

A special hats off on the musical portion of the show. Brian Fimoff was able to create the entire score so that the show could work without a band. The costumes by Danielle Reinhardt were perfect, the props (Abby Gillette) were spot on, the projections (Liviu Pasare) were amazing including a special intro of the players during the overture. What was special about this production is the energy from the cast. The songs are unfamiliar and probably will not be remembered after leaving the theater, but the tap dancing and energy on stage will find you feeling good, smiling and bouncy. During the times we are living in right now, isn’t it nice to know that you can escape for a little time and forget your troubles!

YOU CAN!