Act 1 opens its second stage season at Desales University with the light-hearted, fun and frothy “Dames at Sea.”
The musical which parodies Hollywood musicals of the 1930s in which a girl from a small town goes to New York to hit it big on Broadway, does so with tongue firmly in cheek for an entertaining evening of well-presented music and dance. “Dames at Sea” displays plenty of old fashioned goofy charm with its energetic showgirls, haughty diva, eager sailors and harried director.
The show is presented in the intimate Schubert Theatre, which is the perfect setting for this small in size (just 10 performers) but big-hearted send up of lavish musical from another era.
The admittedly lightweight story has Ruby, a hopeful young star-in-the-making arriving from a small town in Utah at the door of a Broadway theater that is inexplicably rehearsing a show and being torn down at the same time.
Angela LaRose gives Ruby an appealing wide-eyed innocence and a pleasing, sweet voice. She is touching on the heartbreaking “Raining in My Heart” and giddy in the star-spangled “Star Tar.”
In true movie musial fashion, she instantly falls in love with earnest young sailor Dick, into whose arms she literally swoons, weak from not eating. Dick also has showbiz dreams of being a songwriter.
Josiah Behrens is relentlessly earnest as Dick, and has contagious enthusiasm on songs like “Broadway Baby” and “It’s You.”
Victoria Ann Scovens is perfectly bold and brash as the diva Mona Kent and her huge belty voice shines on “Wall Street” and “That Mister Man of Mine.”
Lexi Rastelli is great as Joan, the veteran chorus girl who takes Ruby under her wing. Rastelli’s Joan is smart and brusque, but kind. She has a brassy voice that is put to particularly good use on
“Good Times Are Here to Stay,” which closes the first act.
Nolan Davidson is her love interest – the guileless sailor Lucky. Davidson throws tons of enthusiasm into his duet with Rastelli on “Choo Choo Honeymoon.”
JayceMeredith is an accommodating and jovial captain and lends his resonant voice to “The Beguine” his duet with Scovens.
Maxwell Gorman is good as the fatalistic and flustered director of Hennesey.
A highlight of the show is the tap dancing and there is plenty of it in the exuberant choreography by Stephen Casey. There also is inspired dancing with umbrellas in “Raining in My Heart” and with mops in “Dames at Sea.”
The ensemble of Haley Brienza, Brooke Harrsch and Elizabeth Scully adds nicely to group numbers.
Director Wayne S. Turney neatly holds all the assorted silliness together.
Christopher Clark’s simple but effective set includes a framework of a battleship in the second act.
The 2 p.m. Oct. 20 performance will feature audio descriptions for patrons who are blind or visually impaired. Tickets are half price for patrons using these special services. For information, call box office manager Catherine Logan at 610-282-3654, ext. 1.
“Dames at Seas,” 8 p.m. Oct. 12-13 and 17-19, 2 p.m. Oct. 14 and 21 and 2 and 8 p.m. Oct. 20. Schubert Theatre, of the Labuda Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets: $29, $27, stuent snd seniors Wednesdays and Thursdays; $30, $28 students and seniors Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Info: 610-282-3192 , desales.edu/act1.