'Dames at Sea': Can it stay afloat?

‘DAMES AT SEA’: The cast of the Broadway revival. Photo: Jeremy Daniel

DAMES AT SEA
Book & lyrics by George Haimsohn and Robin Miller
Music by Jim Wise
Directed & choreographed by Randy Skinner
Helen Hayes Theatre
240 West 44th Street
(212-239-6200), www.damesatseabroadway.com

By David NouNou

There are two reasons to revive the 1968 musical Dames at Sea: The sublime score that was perfection back then and even now, and giving the ever-so-talented Randy Skinner free rein to direct and choreograph anything. Alas, even he can’t muddle through a hackneyed book that was a cute and clever Off-Broadway spoof of the 1930s Warner Brothers musicals: 42nd Street and the Gold Diggers movies. What was an homage in 1968 seems labored, forced and trite today. The magnificent 1980 musical 42nd Street was the embodiment of a splashy Busby Berkley Broadway musical of this genre and it sent this little nugget of a dated, cheerful little show off to Off-Broadway heaven.

You know the story: Young, talented girl comes from Utah to be in a Broadway show. She lands a role in the chorus, meets a guy who happens to be a sailor/song writer, they fall in love; the guy is diverted by the barracuda leading lady. The theater is about to be demolished, the show finds a new venue, a battleship. The girl gets kicked out of show by the barracuda, who in turn gets seasick, back comes the chorus girl, takes over for the leading lady and becomes an overnight star. All this takes place in one day. Adorable for a 1968 Off-Broadway spoof.

I mentioned earlier that the score was sublime; truly every song is a gem. The music by Jim Wise and the lyrics by George Haimsohn and Robin Miller have such a familiar ring to them that you’d swear you heard them all in those 1930s Warner Brothers musicals. Each song captures the essence, feel, and mood of all the songs written by Harry Warren and Al Dubin for those musicals. A particular favorite of mine has always been the clever “It’s You” in which the two lovebirds croon, “You’re not The Barrymore Trio or Dolores Del Rio/Charles Farrell or Nancy Carroll/Rudy Vallee or Marion Talley/But you/It’s you/It’s you,” originally sung by an incomparable ingénue with a heartbreaking voice, Bernadette Peters, and her gorgeous leading man, David Christmas. As I sat there relishing every name that was being mentioned, each meticulously picked to sound like another, I was suddenly gripped by a sadness because most of the audience probably has no clue as to who some of these illustrious names were.

This was and still is being performed by six characters to constitute the proverbial cast of thousands: The ingénue Ruby (Eloise Kropp), her sailor/songwriter/boyfriend Dick (Cary Tedder), their cronies Joan (Mara Davi) and her sailor Lucky (Danny Gardner), leading lady Mona Kent (Lesli Margherita), and Hennesey/The Captain of the battleship (John Bolton).

My three favorite performances were Mara Davi as Joan, the fun-loving chorine with a heart of gold. The other two are the sailors Cary Tedder and Danny Gardner. All three excelled in dancing, singing and acting their respective roles proficiently. Not since Senior Shenanigans of 1975 (work with me on this) has there been such over-the-top, scene-chewing performances as given by Lesli Margherita as Mona Kent and, to a lesser degree, John Bolton in the dual roles of Hennesey, the stage director and The Captain. Oh, Randy Skinner, where were you to bring them down to a mere frantic pace? I thought they banned these kinds of performances after graduating from high school. I was also under the impression that less is still more. Last but not least, there is the lovely delightful, winsome, full of charm and exuberant role of the ingénue, Ruby. Bless her heart, Eloise Kropp sure can do a mean tap-dance number.

Director Randy Skinner has imbued Dames at Sea with so many touches to elevate it from Off-Broadway status to a marginally small Broadway theater. One of those touches is the opening show credits, projected onto the stage, to resemble the title opening of a Warner Brothers movie, in which the credits and who’s who in the movie are shown. This is a glorious touch but runs out of steam from there. He has these inventive dance routines that are meant for a chorus of 40, but instead works with an Off-Broadway cast of six. I remember his 2001 revival of 42nd Street that was sheer magic and was robbed of his Tony Award for choreography. The man has talent, taste, and imagination and deserves to be able to display these talents in a great big, splashy musical show, not a Sanforized Off-Broadway imitation.

By the way, I noticed that I mentioned the name Off Broadway six times in this review, and there is a deliberate reason why. Some shows were written and designed on a small scale, and that’s where they flourish best. Just because they were charming in some far-off era Off Broadway doesn’t give them an automatic pass to come to Broadway. Word to the wise: Not all shows are meant to be transferred. Not every show can be a Hair, A Chorus Line, Rent, or Hamilton; these shows all had a vision that transcended boundaries and were meant to eventually come to Broadway. As for Dames at Sea, it may have a rough time staying afloat on the Great White Way.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published October 29, 2015
Reviewed at press performance on October 28, 2015