Images:
Previews:
October 27, 2003
Opened:
December 4, 2003
Ended:
February 15, 2004
Country:
USA
State:
New York
City:
New York
Company/Producers:
Weissberger Theater Group/Jay Harris, prod; Edgar Bronfman, Jr., James Walsh & Ted Hartley/RKO Pictures
Theater Type:
Broadway
Theater:
Broadhurst Theater
Theater Address:
235 West 44th Street
Running Time:
2 hrs, 30 min
Genre:
Musical
Director:
Michael Greif
Review:
Of course he's gonna dance. He's gonna dance from the minute he steps onstage to the moment the curtain falls. And that's as it should be with a nutty, old-fashioned show like Never Gonna Dance, which yearns to be a screwball confection the way they used to make `em, and, more often than not, succeeds. Lead Noah Racey doesn't have Astaire's height and sings just passably, but when he moves, so does the show. Peter Hatcher's book, adapted from the MGM film "Swing Time," has enough contrivances to raise even the long-shut eyebrows of Louis B. Mayer, and the Kern/Fields songs are shoehorned in willy-nilly, but who cares? The jokes are funny, the spirit is willing, and the hoofing -- while sometimes too protracted -- is a hoot.
Cast:
Noah Racey (John), Karen Ziemba, Deidre Goodwin, Nancy Lemenager, Peter Bartlett, Peter Gerety, David Pittu, Deborah Leamy, Philip LeStrange, Ron Orbach, Eugene Fleming, Timothy J. Alex, Julio Augustin, Roxane Barlow, Julie Connors, Sally Mae Dunn, Jennifer Frankel, Jason Gillman, Greg Graham, Ipsita Paul, T. Oliver Reid, Kirby Ward, and Tommar Wilson.
Technical:
Choreog: Jerry Mitchell. Set: Robin Wagner; Costumes: William Ivey Long; Lighting: Paul Gallo; Sound: ACME Sound Partners. Casting: Bernard Telsey 212-868-1260.
Other Critics:
PERFORMING ARTS INSIDER Richmond Shepard !
Critic:
David Lefkowitz
Date Reviewed:
December 2003
