Florida Studio Theater’s Court Cabaret once again holds a hit tribute, this time to the career of singer and actor Dean Martin. That’s Amore is not only the title of the show and one of Dean’s most memorable hit songs but also the reaction of the FST audience to both. Cast and musicians succeed in duplicating the various impressions Dean himself made. Catherine Randazzo ably directs three men who catch the essence of Dean in song and patter as well as Emily Dennis, who represents his wives, lovers, and the women in his songs. Emily comes on with “That Old Black Magic” and typically comes back with sentiments like “I Wanna Be Loved By You”. Charismatic Mike Backes does the title song with a lead-in solo and many of Dean’s romantic numbers. He sometimes joshes with others in duets like “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” that’s picked up by Emily. He does “Side by Side” and “What Would You Do Without Me?” with comical Nick Anastasia as Jerry Lewis. Both men join Mike in a medley recreating Dean’s “I Love Las Vegas” scene, all with glasses in hand. Nygel D. Robinson smoothly adds distinctive types of song, such as “The Naughty Lady from Shady Lane” and “Birth of the Blues.” He handles big bass and other instruments, as does Emily, mostly on strings. All the singers can produce music instrumentally but the major instrumentalists—pianist Jim Prosser and drummer Andrew Deeb each on opposite sides of the stage—keep the different eras of music contemporarily alive and well. Susan Angermann’s costumes are rightly formal, from the men’s tuxedos (with changing colors of ties and cummerbunds in each act) to Emily’s change from a black haltered short evening dress to an Act 2 long golden gown. Sound and lighting keep integrated with changes in time and scenes of Dean Martin’s life. I personally was not interested in so many details of biography intertwined with the music. I feel Martin’s music, even the just-for-fun things like “Mambo Italiano,” is more compelling than his marital history and Rat Pack non-musical escapades. I would have been satisfied with direction and FST script just elucidating times, places, and styles of Martin’s music and professional collaborations. There’s no hint of his ability as an actor here either, but of course in the title it’s never been promised.
