Thank you, Crystal!


©The Santa Barbara News-Press
April 30, 2003


PCPA audience goes 'Crazy' for musical
By Joan Crowder
News-Press Correspondent

A "new" old-fashioned musical comes to Santa Maria in PCPA
theaterfest's rollicking "Crazy For You". The familiar tunes
are by George and Ira Gershwin, the comedy is silly and often
hillarious and the Broadway-style dancing is dynamite.

Director/choreographer Eric Hoit deserves top billing
for this high-energy musical comedy, along with co-choreographer
Valerie Rachelle, because the dancing is what drives the show.

Of course, no matter how good the choreographers are, they have
to have the dancers who can make their vision a reality. Guest
artist Michael Gruber fits the bill. A verteran of Broadway
("A Chorus Line", "Cats", and "Miss Saigon" among many others),
Mr. Gruber is a pro. A hoofer in the style of Gene Kelly, he's
adept at both fast, precision tap and graceful, soaring solos.
His voice is strong, as well, as he sings favorite Gershwin songs,
such as "They Can't Take That Away From Me".

Mr. Gruber plays Bobby Child, a reluctant banker and a wannabe New
York dancer who goes to Deadrock, Nev., to foreclose on a theater,
falls in love with country girl Polly Baker and, in disguise,
produces a show to save the theater. That's the plot in a nutshell,
and it's pretty nutty. This is an old-fashioned musical comedy,
with the thread of a story merely a device to string together
romantic songs and bloclbuster production numbers.

Melinda Ann Parrett, another guest actor and a PCPA graduate,
is Polly. She is also a fine dancer and she has a beautiful
singing voice that does justice to the Gershwin songs.

Familiar PCPA actors once again demonstrate heir versatility
in the secondary roles. David Studwell is a crack-up as Broadway
producer Bela Zangler and Kathleen Mary Mulligan takes a comic
turn as a surprising vamp. The comedy is corny most of the time,
with jokey repartee, but there are many moments and comic numbers
that elicit howls of laughter from the audience.

The company of dancers is amazing. It's a rare treat to see this
kind of old-fashioned, Broadway-style dancing that blends tap,
ballet, and chorus-line styles. One of the Ps in PCPA should
stand for professional.

So where did this "new" old musical, with Gershwin music, come from?

It's very loosely based on "Girl Crazy", a 1930 show that was filled
with jokes that would be not only silly, but offensive today. With
permission of the Gershwin estate to use songs from other Gershwin
musicals, playwright Ken Ludwig and director Mike Ockrent created
"Crazy For You", a new show, which opened on Broadway in 1992.
Among the songs from "Girl Crazy" that they used are such classics
"Embraceable You", "But Not For Me", and "I Got Rhythm". To these they
added 13 other Gershwin songs to create this song-and-dance
extravaganza. It ran for four years and received Tony Awards.

The PCPA production is backed by a full orchestra, conducted by
Kevin Robison. the creative lighting and the company's colorful
and clever costumes enhance the dance numbers. Judith A. Ryerson
is costume designer and Angeline Summers-Marvel is lighting Director.
Dave Nofsinger is scenic designer.

The packed house in the Marian Theatre gave the show a standing
ovation, with whistles and shouts of approval. Some of the women
in the audience were seen dancing out the doors.


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