By Michael Portantiere***Some people expressed consternation when Schmigadoon! captured this year’s Tony Award for Best Musical, apparently feeling that the show is less than worthy because it’s a parody of tried-and-true 
musical comedy tropes. I beg to differ, my opinion being that a spoof/parody/pastiche musical can be just as satisfying and praiseworthy as a straightforward one if — and this is a big “if” — it’s very well done.
Schmigadoon! is, of course, by no means the first show to take the “let’s make fun of old musicals as a way of expressing our love for them” route. The concept dates back at least as far as the late 1960s, when Dames at Sea was created with great aplomb and affection by composer Jim Wise, lyricist/book writers George Haimsohn and Robin Miller, and their cohorts. The show began life as a teeny-tiny sketch at the Caffe Cin, then was expanded somewhat while retaining its intimacy, and eventually moved to a lengthy Off-Broadway run, first at the Bouwerie Lane Theatre and later at the Theater de Lys (now the Lucille Lortel). Among its several noteworthy aspects, Dames was a launching pad for the brilliant career of Bernadette Peters, who 
created the role of Ruby, a simple girl from Centerville, Utah who arrives in New York in the midst of the Great Depression “to be in a Broadway show!” and, over the course of 24 hours, becomes the sensation of the Great White Way.
The original incarnation of the show opened at the Cino in 1966, so the recent presentation of almost its entire score at 54 Below was billed as a 60th anniversary celebration. When musicals are offered in concert form at this ever-active venue, it’s natural that they’re nearly always downsized greatly in terms of cast size, etc. But 54 Sings Dames at Sea reversed that process in terms of the number of performers, as a company of 24 (!!!) played roles and sang songs that were covered by only six people when the show ran Off-Broadway lo these many 
years ago. The result was a joyous evening produced, directed and hosted by Charles Kirsch, with the stalwart Michael Lavine as musical director-pianist.
Starting the proceedings off with a bang was Paula Legget Chase, who had originally been signed to do only one number in the program but, on extremely short notice, heroically picked up two others — including the opener, “Wall Street,” performed full-out with a tap dance break to boot! After a well-deserved ovation, Chase yielded the stage to Loni Ackerman and Kurt Peterson, who had (respectively) replaced Bernadette Peters and David Christmas in the original 
Off-Broadway production of DOS, for the sweet, sincere duet “It’s You,” followed by Roe Hartrampf with a thoroughly winning performance of “Broadway Baby.”
Next came “That Mister Man of Mine,” which I’ve always thought of as a slyly witty send-up of the Gershwins’ “The Man I Love,” featuring Allyson Tucker as soloist with Christopher DeProphetis, Jay Aubrey Jones and Ashley Morton singing backup. (Sample lyrics: “My life is black since that rich man adored me / I’ve had no lack of men, but they all bored me / He wants me back, but now he can’t afford me!”) The utterly charming Rick Faughno and Joyce Chittick then scored with “Choo-Choo Honeymoon” (think “Shuffle Off to Buffalo”), their status as a married couple no doubt contributing to the fact that the number was obviously very well-rehearsed and impressively sharp, including another lengthy tap break.
Alexandra Socha was adorable in “The Sailor of My Dreams,” and Broadway veteran Tim Jerome brought tons of musical comedy authority to a musical monologue that’s often cut from the show—and the Act I closer, “Good Times are Here to Stay” (think “Great Day”), was socked to the audience by Paula Legget Chase with assistance from Bryan Austermann, Jay Aubrey Jones, Alexander Rios, and Megan Styrna.
In the spot where there would have been an intermission, but wasn’t (because breaks are never taken at 54 Below), Randy Skinner, who directed and choreographer the short-lived 2015 Broadway production of Dames at Sea, talked a bit about his experience with the show. Act II of the score opened big, 
with the rousing title song, delivered with gusto by an ensemble consisting of DeProphetis, Rios and Styrna, plus Jeff Gorti, Olivia Elease Hardy and Ashley Morton. Next came the evening’s comic highlight, “The Beguine,” expertly put over by Stephen De Rosa and Ruth Gottschall, followed by the marvelously drippy “Raining in My Heart” as sung by Britney Coleman with ensemble. Tony Award nominee AJ Shively teamed up with Styrna for the sweet duet “There’s Something About You,” and Paula Leggett Chase had her third hit of the evening with her featured spot in “The Echo Waltz.”
These one-nighters at 54 Below and similar venues are, by necessity, put together quickly and with comparatively little rehearsal. That’s often obvious through dropped or paraphrased lyrics, 
and on this occasion, this reviewer, who had directed a community theater production of Dames at Sea way back in 1980, had to supply two lyric cues to two momentarily blank performers from his seat in the audience. (They were appreciative, and at the end of the show, I did receive a round of applause from the people seated in my immediate vicinity.) Overall, the flubs were minor with the exception of the penultimate number, “Star Tar,” enjoyable for Olivia Elease Hardy’s lead vocal but a near shambles in terms of the ensemble. Fortunately, the “Let’s Have a Simple Wedding” finale, as sung by Chittick, Coleman, DeRosa, Faugno, Gottschall and Shively, went much better and served as a satisfying capper to an evening that was very enthusiastically received by a near-sell-out crowd.
Photos by Maryann Lopinto
