By John Quinn
In spring a young man's fancy turns to thoughts of love; the theatrically inclined turn to thoughts of farce. Broadway Onstage Live Theatre closes its 32nd season with an original musical comedy, "Tapdance!" written and directed by Dennis Wickline. Light and giddy, it's a sign that spring is silly season.
It's 1930 in the Big Apple. Theatrical producer Milo Steward (Patrick Sharpe) hopes to sell his musical revue, "New York," to a film studio, but his ticket to Hollywood is on a heavily-laden mail plane. He can't take his whole cast, but along for the ride are his assistant, "Squeeky" (Kelly Kucharski), and an overly-dramatic couple, Chester and "Lips" (John Arden McClure and Sharron Nelson). The last passengers usurp the "seats" of two other hoofers. They are the shady gangster Scarface Kowalski and his moll, Rosemary (Dave Woitulewicz and Stella Rothe), on the lam for unpaid debts. Since there aren't enough of the real cast to properly showcase his production, Milo dragoons the couple, along with the pilot (Don Ross) and a traveling nurse (Elizabeth Rager). The newcomers need broken in, but that means rehearsing in flight.
Now tap dancers on a plane aren't as deadly as snakes on a plane, but they're sure noisier. Doubling as choreographer, Don Ross has kept the steps simple to accommodate differences in experience among his cast. In terms of precision – well, this ain't "Riverdance." Dancing on a plane is just a means of setting up improbable coincidences, unlikely mistaken identities, and really absurdist situation comedy. In other words, "Tapdance!" is full of the fluff farce is made of.
One doesn't need much attention to detail in broad comedy, since the situations are thoroughly unrealistic, but some puzzling costume choices catch the eye. As pretentious a character as Chester the ham actor is, flying cross country in a smoking jacket is more eccentric than we would expect. In a similar vein: While, as Scarface might put it, "Da goils got great gams!" I can't buy the mid-thigh hem lines on Kelly Kucharski and Stella Rothe; they're 'way out of period. The contrast with Sharron Nelson's suitable, mid-calf shift is striking.
"Tapdance!" features an original book, but the tunes are old standbys from Tin Pan Alley. It's a pleasure to just sit back and listen to musical director Kelly Smith knock out these favorites on the piano.
If the current weather makes you want to shout, "Oh, dry up!" at our pleasant peninsulas, spare your voice. Kick back and have a laugh instead.
REVIEW:
'Tapdance!'
Broadway Onstage, 21517 Kelly Road, Eastpointe. Friday-Saturday through May 11. 1 hour, 30 minutes. $18. 586-771-6333. http://www.BroadwayOnStage.com
