Audiences seem to love the usual Florida Studio Theater Cabaret formula of several singers-dancers-actors delivering songs solo, in pairs, and all together, that fit into a common theme. They have a lot to enjoy in Never Marry a Girl with Cold Feet. It’s a lively salute to vaudeville, but mainly through musical numbers rather than its variety-show acts.
The title comes from a song by Jerome Kern from one of the many shows he had on Broadway in a single season. He’s among the highlighted Broadway contributors to the vaudeville era (1915-30) who include Irving Berlin, George M. Cohan, the Gershwins, and Bert Williams as composers; Eddie Cantor, Al Jolson, and Rudy Vallee among those who (along with Cohan and Williams) sang.
Eric Collins leads fellow talented performers Richie McCall and Gary Marachek at Court Cabaret into an opening Medley that gives their “Regards to Broadway.” Ali Reed debuts at FST with “O You Beautiful Doll” that could well describe blond Ali herself in her vivid red lace dress and rose-gold high heels. (The dress becomes the basis for many costume “changes” with additions like scarves, jackets, and hair covers.)
There’s very little script, so Eric is memorable telling about how “When You Were Sweet Sixteen” was composed one night after James Thornton met the girl who inspired it. It seems written for Eric’s sweet voice. On the other hand, Ali singing “My Man” makes him rather bland.
Songs associated with Al Jolson are “April Showers,” “Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody,”, “Mammy” imitating Jolson’s gestures and kneeling, and “Toot, Toot, Tootsie” with all playing a locomotive. Richie does a fine job with Bert Williams’s “When It’s All Going Out and Nothing’s Coming In” but scores even better, in ragged jacket, with “Nobody” that was Williams’s theme.
The most typical real vaudeville act is “Mister Gallagher & Mister Shean” with Gary Marachek and Richie McCall nicely dialoguing comedy. Ali tries to be funny with “Josephine, Please No Lean on the Bell” written by Eddie Cantor. She’s wrapped in a shawl with black curls spilling out of a headscarf. By supplying vowel “a” after “Josephine,” “Lean” and “Bell”, the speaker-singer becomes a silly Italian stereotype.
Different colors and patterns of jackets, shirts, vests dress up the guys‘ gray trousers to make costumes compatible with program changes. Hats from straw to derby are both costumes and props for the cast. Sound is generally as even and appropriate as Jim Prosser’s piano playing.
