On & Off Broadway

‘Dames at Sea’

Reviewed by Elyse Trevers

Posted

If 42nd Street and Busby Berkeley-style movies make you smile, then the revival of Dames at Sea at the Helen Hayes Theatre is for you. A spoof of 1930s films, the musical offers a light plot about Ruby, a young dancer from the Midwest who comes to New York hoping to make her name on Broadway. We’ve heard the story before: The leading lady falls ill (actually seasick), the young ingénue is thrust into her role and a star is born!

You don’t go to see Dames at Sea for its story. The show is a mash-up of the thin plots of the old musicals complete with the requisite sailors, a songwriter-boyfriend and song and dance couple. Even the characters’ names are reminiscent of the old movies with Dick the boyfriend, his best friend Lucky and the wisecracking girlfriend Joan.

Randy Skinner, the director/choreographer, relies heavily on dance. One number leads into another and the six member cast sings and dances its heart out. Although all are talented and pleasant Leslie Margherita, as Mona, the leading lady, stands out. She makes a deliciously outrageous diva. Everything is exaggerated and pronounced as she vamps every line and song, over-emoting to the audience’s delight. The role of Ruby launched the career of a young Bernadette Peters when the show ran Off-Off-Broadway in the 1960s. However, I doubt that it will do the same for Eloise Kropp, the new Ruby, who lacks the same spark.

When real life gets dark and heavy, people tend to reflect on the good times of the past. Dames at Sea is fun, tuneful and colorful and offers a bit of nostalgia for people of a certain age. Much of the humor and satire may be missed by younger people, so the show might have limited appeal. But wouldn’t it be nice if all the world’s problems could be solved through a song and a dance?