John North Editor & Publisher

FLAT ROCK — The musical “Dames at Sea,” now playing at Flat Rock Playhouse, provides a delightful — and elegant — respite from real-life problems with a superb mix of show tunes, snappy tap dancing and rib-tickling visual gags and one-liners delivered on cue by a talented and enthusiastic cast.

This simple classic spoof of Busby Berkeley’s Depression-era backstage films, set in the early 1930s, involves a would-be chorus girl who arrives in New York from small-town America with only a pair of tap shoes in her suitcase and a prayer in her heart, hoping to make a splash in the Big Apple. Of course, she falls in love with a sailor (who just happens to be a tap-dancing songwriter), and then saves a Broadway show when the star can’t go on.

The comedy is, if anything, even funnier than probably originally intended, thanks to the many references and sight gags that, by today’s standards, are so politically incorrect as to be borderline surreal, but ultimately proving to be refreshingly honest.

The plot, as a spoof of a cliché, works because it involves an interesting variation of dramatic twists and turns to get to the requisite happy ending. The play is, above all else, elegant, from the lush songs to the period costumes to the precision choreography.

The satire was designed as a New York salute to Hollywood, with book and lyrics by George Haimsohn and Robin Miller and music by Jim Wise.

The original production, which was an off-Broadway sensation, launched its leading lady, Bernadette Peters, into musical-theater stardom in 1968. It was first staged in 1966 as a short sketch, based loosely on the “Gold Diggers” movies of the ‘30s.

In a textbook example of life imitating art, the original actress playing Ruby withdrew during rehearsals and was replaced by newcomer Peters — exactly paralleling the plot progression of “Dames at Sea.”

To my surprise, the Flat Rock Playhouse was only half-filled last Saturday night when I attended the season-opener, but the sparse crowd was more likely the result of people staying close to home because of sky-high gasoline prices than a reflection on the show.

Indeed, every aspect of the show sparkled, particularly the orchestra’s playing and the cast’s singing of the splendid score — much to the credit of director Amy Elizabeth Jones.

From left are Lisa Bryant (Ruby), Wendy Hayes (Joan) and Carl J. Danielsen (Hennessey/Captain) during a rehearsal for “Dames at Sea.”

A crack three-piece band featured Paul Babelay on drums, Charles Holland on bass and George Wilkins Jr. on piano. They appeared to enjoy playing the scintillating score, which includes such popular numbers as “Raining in My Heart,”  “Broadway Baby ” and “Wall Street.”

The six-person cast includes Mona Kent (Marcy McGuigan), Joan (Wendy Hayes), Hennessey/Captain (Carl J. Danielsen), Ruby (Lisa K. Bryant), Dick (Freddie Kimmel) and Lucky (Matthew Schneider).

McGuigan and Kimmel were slightly weak links in the chain of otherwise solid performances by the cast. McGuigan just didn’t have the look to be convincing in her role as the ingenue seductress. And Kimmel, despite being a top-notch song-and-dance man, lacked the charisma and charm to persuasively carry his lead male role — perhaps partly because Schneider, as his sailor sidekick Lucky, was such a powerhouse in his part.

The sets were colorful and well-planned, featuring “any 42nd Street theater” in the first act, and “aboard the battleship” in the second.

A particularly funny and memorable scene was Lucky’s flashback to “Singapore Sue,” a fantasy girlfriend, who shimmied amid her menacing protectors and eventually dropped her veil to reveal herself as his current love interest, Joan, much to Lucky’s delight.

In another standout scene, Ruby sang “Raining in My Heart” as those around her twirled sparkling umbrellas in dazzling unison for an otherworldly effect.

The show will continue at 8:15 nightly through Saturday, with matinees at 2:15 p.m. today, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.
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John North, publisher and editor of the Daily Planet, may be contact at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .