ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, June 22, 1996 TAG: 9606250004
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: B-10 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: THEATER REVIEW
SOURCE: KATHERINE REED STAFF WRITER
Oh, dear. At a loss for words.
There ought to be at least one adjective that aptly describes Mill Mountain Theatre's "Crazy For You," which opened Friday.
Fabulous is almost there. But it doesn't quite cover it.
Because the point here isn't just to communicate how wonderful this show is. It is also to compel you to get up, go to the phone and order tickets to one of the best shows I've seen in six years of Roanoke theater-going.
If you miss it, you're passing up an opportunity to see an honest-to-goodness Broadway-quality production and some of the best dancing and singing you can see (relatively) cheaply - right here in River City.
"Crazy for You" is a Gershwin musical about a guy named Bobby Child, who just wants to dance. And sing, of course.
His mother, unfortunately, thinks Bobby is wasting his time and ought to be helping her increase the family fortune.
She sends Bobby (Drew Geraci, who was so good in "Forever Plaid'') out to Deadrock, Nev., to foreclose on a theater there.
Love intervenes in the person of Polly Baker (Elizabeth Dressler), one tough cookie with whom Bobby instantly falls in love. Bobby instantly forgets Mummy's mission and hatches a new plan: Get Polly to marry him, and resurrect the old theater by staging a brand-new show.
He calls in the Zangler Follies girls from New York, gets to work turning cowpokes into tapmen and romances the heck out of Polly.
It's not easy, but this talented cast makes even the most complicated production numbers look nearly effortless - particularly the Zangler girls, played by Kirsten Brant, Peggy Polopolus, Teressa Hoover, Jenn Harris, Autumn Drulis, Janet Renslow, Natalie Collins and Beth Raimer. They are matched in talent by the cowpokes, played by Curley Ennis, William Reinking, Harvey Johnson, Andrew Thaman, David Bolander, Jeremy Kiesman and Daniel Baldwin Hess.
Rounding out the cast are Jack Parrish, who is dead-on as the troublesome Lank, and Dawn Westbrook as Bobby's would-be fiancee, Irene. Parrish and Westbrook's "Naughty Baby" is delightful from its opening word - an authoritative "Move!'' from Westbrook as she kicks the cowpokes out of the way to make enough space in which to be bad.
There are so many recognizable tunes in this musical - well, let's put it this way: If you hear someone in the grocery store this weekend humming what sounds to you like the theme song to the old Toyota commercials (``Who could ask for anything more''), you can bet they had the good sense to see "Crazy for You" and heard ``I Got Rhythm.''
The production's only weakness is in the orchestra pit. Apparently, the musicians didn't have quite enough time to put some polish on the songs. Admittedly, there are a lot of them. And they're Gershwin. But it seems a shame, when everything else is working so well, to be distracted by uneven music.
Most of the time, Geraci and Dressler managed to sing over what was occasionally an unpleasant sound. Dressler's mike didn't seem to be fully functioning until most of the way through the long first act, which made it difficult to hear the great lyrics of these great Gershwin songs.
But it was opening night - and an extraordinary one at that.
Director Jere Lee Hodgin, choreographer Craig North, scenery designer John Sailer, costume designer Mitch Baker and lighting designer John Wolf bring it all together with genuine elegance.
But don't take my word for it. See for yourself.
LENGTH: Medium: 67 linesby CNB