Everybody’s ‘Gotta Dance’ in Citadel Theatre’s holiday musical ‘Dames at Sea’
As soon as movies began to talk, they started to sing, and to dance. Finally, music and dance could be recorded together in sync for exhibition to mass audiences and preserved for future generations. Hundreds of movie musicals were released throughout the 1930s, but the ones most remembered by film historians and fans are the musicals of director-choreographer Busby Berkeley. Berkeley was known for creating elaborate musical production numbers, with large numbers of showgirls and props as fantasy elements in kaleidoscopic numbers for such movies as “Golddiggers of 1933,” “Dames,” and the most famous of all, “42nd Street.” In 1966, the composer Jim Wise, and writer George Haimsohn wrote an affectionate pastiche of these musicals called “Dames at Sea,” which Citadel Theatre will present through Dec. 15. The artists who will bring this musical to Citadel’s Lake Forest stage seem to have been born for this task.
Gregg Dennhardt of Lincolnshire, who will direct and choreograph the production, says “I wasn’t exactly born in a trunk but I am the son of two choreographers. I almost learned to dance before I could walk. My house growing up was a huge fan haven for big screen musicals like ‘42nd Street,’ ‘White Christmas,’ and ‘American in Paris.’ In fact, my mom, growing up as she did in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, learned to dance at the local Kelly Studios where one of her teachers was a young hoofer by the name of Gene Kelly (his mom and dad owned the business). Gene Kelly became an icon of movie musicals, and his performance of the song ‘Gotta Dance’ in ‘Singin’ in the Rain,’ became emblematic of the genre. So, musicals were a way of life at the Dennhardt household; both watching and being in them.”
Burr Ridge native and current resident Melody Rowland, who has the leading role of Ruby, said, “I have been dancing since I was three and performing in musicals since I was 10. At the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, I had no less than four dance classes each week, as well as multiple voice and acting classes.”
One of Rowland’s first professional roles was playing a dancer in Drury Lane Oakbrook’s “A Chorus Line” last year. Her “Dames at Sea” character is modeled after Ruby Keeler’s character in “42nd Street”: the chorus girl who becomes a star.
“Having been in ‘A Chorus Line’ absolutely helped my preparation and character development for Ruby. ‘A Chorus Line’ really hits home in terms of the difficulty of the performance world: the time it takes perfecting your craft, the high-stakes emotions it brings out, the number of auditions you go to, the people you meet, the successes, the rejections. These are all things Ruby is dealing with for the first time in her life. Having already done a show that explores all of these nuances of a performance career, and using my own personal experience in the career, I knew exactly where Ruby was coming from. I knew how she was feeling and what she was thinking. I had a solid base of information and experience that I knew I could confidently build/personalize Ruby from there.”
“Playing Ruby is like playing ‘the girl next door.’ She is sweet, pure, optimistic, driven, and wears her heart on her sleeve. You can’t help but root for her throughout the show, and those are some of my favorite kinds of characters to portray.”
As Ruby, Rowland is following in the footsteps of Broadway legend Bernadette Peters, who not only originated the role off-Broadway, but played it on tour at Lake Forest’s Academy Playhouse in July 1973.
Dennhardt promises a show with lots of flash and dancing.
“‘Dames at Sea’ is very dance heavy. It’s predominantly a tap show and everyone in the cast taps. But there are many other styles reflecting 1930s dancing of the period: ballet, jazz, the emerging modern, military, eccentric and, of course, the old soft shoe. Our large ensemble will fill the intimate Citadel stage suggest Busby Berkeley’s touch. ‘Dames’ is pure fun. 90 minutes of schmaltz, gags, and a slight romance all interspersed with singing and dancing, dancing, dancing.”
Dennhardt continues, “I hope that our audiences take away a sentimental and loving recall of the bygone golden age of the classic American musical theater. It is our homegrown offering to the world of how great people can be entertained. Yes, it’s done as comedic satire, poking fun at that time’s dusty old bits; but is always offered with love of and respect for those giants who paved the way for the modern giants like Bob Fosse, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Susan Stroman. It’s all about the love, and the fun and laughter. ”
“Dames at Sea” will play at Citadel Theatre, which is in residence in the West Campus of the Lake Forest School District at 300 S. Waukegan Road, Lake Forest, at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays; and 3 p.m. Sundays through Dec. 15, as well as 1 p.m. Wednesdays, Nov. 27 and Dec. 11. Further information and ticketing is available on the company’s website at www.citadeltheatre.org, or by phone, at (847) 735-8554, ext. 1.