Reviews
Orlando Sentinel
Dames at Sea
By Rebecca Swain Vadnie


There are probably few shows that want to be called "cute," but the tap-dancing sendup Dames at Sea wears that label proudly, content to be a frothy concoction that is more sweet than substantial.

It's all fine because sometimes sweet and frothy are exactly what we need, and the Winter Park Playhouse production of Dames at Sea -- directed by Michael Edwards with musical direction by Jason Wetzel and choreography by Roy Alan -- delivers an engaging and cheery musical.

The George Haimsohn-Robin Miller-Jim Wise show is a nostalgic, almost campy, roast of '30s and '40s musicals -- complete with broad comedy, tap dancing and spontaneous songs. The show debuted off-Broadway in the 1960s and starred Bernadette Peters in the role of Ruby, a small-town girl with dreams of making it on Broadway -- which Ruby manages to do within minutes of her arrival.

Almost as soon as she is off the bus, she lands a spot in the chorus for a new musical, becomes friends with wisecracking chorus girl Joan, falls in love with an adorably earnest aspiring songwriter and sailor named Dick, runs afoul of the resident diva Mona Kent and learns her big debut may be cut short because the theater is minutes from being torn down.

Whew.

Of course, no matter what happens, everything will work out in the end -- as it always does in musicals. Somehow, knowing that that perfect ending is on the way makes for a wonderful remedy to the reality, where loose ends are rarely tied up.

Though the production threatens to overwhelm the small theater space, it makes the most of the pleasant, if not terribly memorable, songs with an enthusiastic cast, clever staging and Roy Alan's period-inspired tap routines.


As Ruby and Dick, Heather-Dawn Sipler and Todd Allen Long are perfectly charming as the young lovers with stars in their eyes. Heather Alexander's Mona Kent is appropriately over-the-top while director Edwards is affable in his double-duty roles as theater producer Hennesey and a love-struck naval commander. Joan (Robyn Pedretti) and her sailor boyfriend Lucky (Roy Alan) get some of the best lines, though, and they snap off zingers with well-timed ease.

Even if it does owe its life to all the shows that came before, Dames at Sea is a reminder of how much fun musicals can be. Don't try to look for hidden themes. Just enjoy it for what it is -- a sweet distraction from everyday life.



This website and its images and content are ©2003-2004 Winter Park Playhouse, Inc.
Problems with this site? Please contact the Webmaster. Thank you!