Let's pretend it is 1933 and you are sitting in your neighborhood theater or better yet, in a grand old move palace. The house lights dim, the traveler curtains part and the movie begins flashing the Warner Brothers studio's logo. Then the credits appear on the screen with the names and faces of the film's stars, in black and white of course. But now we switch to color. That's the way the glorious, glittering and colorful revival of Dames at Sea begins. The classic all-talking, all-dancing, all-singing, all-sassy pastiche of the 1930 film musicals is back and worthy of a twenty-one gun salute.
This is the show that first catapulted Bernadette Peters to stardom Off-Broadway 47 years ago. It's been a long wait for those time-stepping dames and fleet-footed tars to get their act together. They have and are now back where they belong as they rehearse for a mini-spectacular (maxi in our minds) show on the deck of a battleship, actually on the stage of the wonderfully intimate Helen Hayes Theater.
You may have fond memories of the original, the Off-Broadway revival in 1985, or perhaps have only heard about those legendary Dames at Sea. You only need to know that it is time for you to get in step with this terrific company for (as one of the many joyous numbers tells us) a "Choo Choo Honeymoon.”
The principal creative force behind this revival, actually its first production on Broadway is Randy Skinner. He has beautifully and imaginatively recreated that delicate balance of parody and reverence that made these "dames" such a delight originally. But he has added just enough more exuberant dancing and production values to make it now the most irresistible musical in town.
