On Your Toes
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Denman, Malone
Photo by Michael Lamont
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By Melinda Schupmann
New Artistic Director Jason Alexander promised opening night crowds that there were many exciting events upcoming in Reprise! Broadway's Best's new season. For one, there will be an additional show in the lineup. He reminded the audience that On Your Toes began rehearsals, and in six days the show was ready to go. Considering its scope, it's a wonder!
First produced in 1936 by Rodgers and Hart, with George Abbott directing, it was an ambitious undertaking then and a relatively new form. Prior to that time, dance was an extra, not an integral part of the story. Richard Rodgers wrote "Slaughter on Fifth Avenue" for the show, and George Balanchine staged it with Ray Bolger and Tamara Geva. In fact, the lobby cases at the Freud include some wonderful memorabilia of Bolger's career.
The story begins, as so many musicals of the thirties did, in a vaudeville show. The singing and dancing Dolans had a young son, and it was determined when he became interested in a showgirl that he should be sent off to school. Flashforward a few years, and Junior Dolan (Jeffrey Denman) is now Professor Dolan teaching music at Knickerbocker University. He has a talented student, Sidney Cohn (Brett Ryback), who has written a jazz piece ("Slaughter") that he hopes to convince a Russian ballet company to mount. The director, Sergei Alexandrovitch (Dan Butler), is only interested in classical pieces and refuses to use the work, even though he praises its merit. In steps Peggy Porterfield (Stephanie Powers), a financial backer for Alexandrovitch's company, who persuades him to do it with a few threats about calling in repayment of money she has advanced his troupe.
Yes, the story is corny and derivative of some Hollywood musicals of the "silver screen," but with wonderful songs like "It's a Small Hotel" and "You Took Advantage of Me," it becomes a lovely interlude in the midst of current stage shows with bigger and bigger special effects. This show is all about topnotch dancing and Rodgers and Hart's music, arranged by the award-winning Gerald Sternbach to teriffic effect.
One would be hard pressed to find a better cast. Denman makes a great Junior, full of talent and with vaudeville experience, yet pretty naive and boyish. Beth Malone, playing his girlfriend Frankie Frayne, is well cast as his fresh-faced sweetheart. Of course, the play would not have much to offer if there weren't some obstacles in true love's path. The dazzler who sweeps Junior off his feet is the prima ballerina of the Russian company, Vera Baronova (Yvette Tucker.) She uses Junior to counteract the news that her romantic interest, Konstantine Morrosine (Jonathan Sharp), has been seeing another woman. While this plot makes its steady way toward the obvious ending, the songs and dances along the way are energizing.
Tucker is a splendidly petulant prima donna, making her appearances both comic and fascinating. Sharp and Tucker have some grandiose verbal duels that provide much animation. Butler also makes a characteristically autocratic Russian into a more human character. Director Dan Mojica has just the right touch for comedy and sentimentality, as he translates this 70-year-old musical into one with wit and an ear for today.
Powers plays her part with elegance, though her inflappability and sophistication borders on bland as the story progresses. Her songs are solid, though, and she does strike a tone with her clever costumes by Shon LeBlanc. He comes through, as always, with a perfectly garbed cast.
Malone and Denman handle their musical numbers with just the right amount of charm, and their voices are well matched. Ryback, also, adds energy to his piano work, especially in and around the "Slaughter" number.
Choreography and musical direction are the stars of the show. Lee Martino's work with both ballet and Broadway hoofing is marvelous. The dance ensemble expertly handles both tap and Rodgers and Hart numbers as well as the interludes of ballet. Tucker and Sharp are the headliners in the ballet sequence, La Princesse Zenobia-Ballet, but they are accompanied by a truly cohesive ensemble. They deserve mention: Shell Bauman, Seth Belliston, Jennie Ford, Casey Garritano, Chelsea Hackett, Joey T. Marshall, Melissa Emilie Paris, Aaron Pomeroy, Mark C. Reis, Katie Rooney, Sarah Spradlin-Bonomo, Leslie Stevens, John Todd, and Scott Weber.
Brett Banakis' lighting and set design captures the deco-look of the thirties, especially with the orchestral wedge flanking the production. Philip G. Allen's sound design also makes the show well worth listening to.
The only downside to Reprise! is its short run, August 14-26. This is a show that could build a goodly audience over time. It will be interesting to see what new surprises are in store for future productions.
Presented at the Freud Playhouse, on the UCLA campus at Macgowan Hall. Tickets available by calling UCLA Central Ticket Office, 310-825-2101. Tues.-Fri. at 8 p.m.; Sat. at 2 & 8; Sun. at 2 & 7. Single ticket prices are $70 Tues.-Thurs. and $75 for Fri, Sat. and Sun. $20 student/senior rush fifteen minutes before showtime subject to availability.
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