Look at me! George M. Cohan is supposed to have commanded. So, too, says Steve Dawson, recreating the man who once "owned Broadway" on his road there, through vaudeville and road shows with his family act and finally as star and producer. Unfortunately, one has to look for too long at Steve surrounded by much lesser talents (notably excepting sweet Cassie Abate as sister Josie and practiced Vicki Kite as George's second wife). His "parents" would be too weak for anything but an amateur production like The Players'. There's hardly a pretense of a book and little character development. For instance, the love of blowhard George for bland Ethel makes her leaving their marriage just a pause between musical numbers.
Tap routines (the only sign of director Steven Vincent's usual dance wizardry) make the show bearable. So do favorite songs like "Harrigan" and "Yankee Doodle Dandy," both showcasing agile Dawson (or was it Cohan or Cagney?). Vickie Kite auditions winningly with "Billie." Jan Docking sentimentalizes the name "Mary" well but takes on too many roles. An attempt to blend songs and scenes by George as a producer becomes a cacophonous mish-mash, but a mostly patriotic medley zings. The show stopper, by the way, consists of tricks by Joe Ozier and his lovable Wonder Dog.
A profusion of old-fashioned colorfully-painted and aptly lit flats and wings works better than the concept of making white jersey tops and full skirts a unifying factor in the women's costuming. Cohan's catchy "Just Forty-Five Minutes from Broadway" and "All Aboard For Broadway" just a few years back might have described shows at The Players. This season, alas, they've stayed in the boonies.
