Thank you, Crystal!


The Santa Maria Sun
April 24 - May 1, 2003


Something to dance about
PCPA's 'Crazy For You' Brings Down the House
by Bill Beeson

PCPA has given us a number of musicals over the
years, all memorable in one way or another, all
distinguished by a contagious exuberence. Most of
them left the audiences, as they left the opening
night crowd attending "Crazy For You": on their
feet, lustily cheering and begging for more.

This cast sings well, they are all personable as
they can be, and every single one of them can
dance like a dream. Never, ever - well maybe their
"42nd Street" - has number after number met with
wave upon wave of applause. The show is headed by
a young man named Michael Gruber and a hardworking
ensemble that simply will not let up til their
legerdemain is temporarily exhauseted.

Much of the pleasure to be derived from a musical
like "Crazy For You" comes from watching the
pleasure a performer like Gruber gets from hoofing.
From the minute he appears, impersonating one would-be
Broadway baby, Bobby Child, whose mother would
rather see him in real estate, he's desperately
trying to impress producer Bela Zangler with his
skills in his zany, joyous "K-ra-zy For You".
Gruber is slim, good-looking, with an ingratiating
manner that just won't stop. He could sell you
chocolate-covered pickles and make you think
they were truffles.

The dancing is enough by itself to make this
show eminently seeable, but when you add a score
by George Gershwin and lyrics by his brother Ira,
you have something very special indeed. Director
Eric Hoit has cleverly cast Melinda Ann Parrett
opposite Gruber. Parrett, as many of you will recall
from past appearances with PCPA, is a belter - a
perfect match for Gruber, whose vocal technique can
bear comparison to Fred Astaire's or Gene Kelly's.
Tearing up the floor wherever they happen to land,
they make a killer team.

Parrett's way with the indelible Gershwin numbers
like "Embraceable You" and " But Not For Me" is
suitably tender - once again you're able to appreciate
what classic ballads they really are, how natural their
lyrics, how durable Ira Gershwin's "Embrace me, you sweet
embracable you/ Embrace me, you irreplaceable you" still
remains in 2003. "I'm biding my time", the Cowboy trio
sings, "That's the kind of guy I'm". Lovely.

The wonderful male ensamle - Andrew Bray, John Edelen,
Joseph Gallina, Brian Lavelle Joel Presley, Rick Scarpello-
proves to possess exceptionally agile bodies. As lazy a
collection of louts as one might hope to encounter in
Deadrock, Nev., they appear dressed in costumes that look
both authentic and often odiferous, scuttling along from
one end of the bar to another in steady succession like
bowling balls, on another occassion manipulating the ladies
of the Gaiety Theatre as if they were rag dolls. Led by
Gruber, they provide a show stopper, the endlessly inventive
"Slap That Bass," in which they litterly become the band.

We are introduced to the ladies of the ensemble early on
when Gruber opens a trunk and five gorgeous pink chorus girls
pop out to deliver a catchy "I Can't Be Bothered Now." From
then on, it should be obvious we're on to a good thing. All
five - Erin Ayala, Jayme Lake, Jessica Larson, Carly Turner
and Catherine Yates - are delectably zaftig, a bengign corps
capable of dominating the show whenever they appear. They're
aided by the talented Hayley Elizabeth Galbraith as Tess and
Kellie Nitkin as Patsy, the obligatory dim chorine.

Kathleen Mary Mulligan is the very cool, intensely anguished
Irene Worth - played with a purr and a hiss and a provocative
pace that all come together in her delicious "Naughty Baby",
which she performs in a skirt split three days to Friday.
Supported by Ryan Jensen, as the scuzzy Lank, and a wonderful
male trio, she creates a Navada heat wave in nothing flat.

Jeff Evan Clarke and Gillian Chadsey, as noxious British
tourists full of pluck, wander into Deadrock just long enough
to become involved in everybody's business. Their rousing
number "Stiff Upper Lip" brings down the house as the dignified
couple does a bit of consciousness raising. Jack Greenman and
Phyllis Rodenburger support the general merriment in yeoman style.

Hoit has directed "Crazy For You" and managed to make the
hackneyed script seem plausable in a sweetly demented way.
He and co-choreographer Valerie Rachelle have done a champion
job. Their work is versatile, funny, and always professional,
as is that of Kevin Robinson, the music director, and his
assistant, Jay Wright.

Judith Ryerson has dressed the large company with real style
and color. The sets by Dave Nofsinger are simple but highly
effective. Angeline Summers-Marvel's lighting is often inspired.


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