Dinner theater hits a high with 'Crazy for You'

HUDSON -- From the snazzy costumes, eye-popping sets and sure-footed players to the stunning choreography, the Show Palace Dinner Theatre's 2002 opener, Crazy for You, has a real Broadway look and feel.

Crazy for You should reassure those who were disappointed by the Show Palace's last two offerings, the miscast and misfired Guys and Dolls and Here's Love, that the theater has regained its footing.

Crazy for You, the 1992 Tony Award winner, is a big singing and high-kicking dance show in which timing and tempo mean everything, especially when 25 people are on a dinner theater-sized stage.

Excellent direction by Chris and Shanna Sells and superb casting mean minimal bruises, mostly for dancer-acrobat Aaron J. Wooten, whose character, Billy, takes the most tumbles.

Crazy for You, written by George and Ira Gershwin, is a tangled take on the backstage boy-meets-girl story. New York rich boy Bobby Child (Michael Stanek) is sent by his mother (Barbara Wells) to Deadrock, Nev., to foreclose on a rundown theater owned by the aging Everett Baker (Bob Wells). Bobby falls for Baker's spunky daughter, Polly (Meredith Inglesby), who hates him because of what he's doing.

So Bobby dons a wig and fake mustache and pretends to be theater entrepreneur Bela Zangler, then calls his chorus girl friends out to Nevada to help him put on a show to save the theater. Then the real Bela (Michael Ursua) shows up. In the end, all turns out well, and everyone is in love. Hey, it's musical comedy.

The shows-within-the-show give ample opportunity for big dance numbers, and that, plus those glorious Gershwin songs, are what make this musical one show-stopper after another.

Stanek is a triple-threat singer, dancer and actor, with smooth moves and charm galore. Inglesby's warm, mellow voice and plucky manner make her a perfect Polly, and she does rich renderings of the classics Someone to Watch Over Me, Embraceable You and But Not for Me.

Ken Robinson is stellar as the rascally Lank Hawkins, who covets the theater and wants Miss Polly. Steve Rossi and Susan Haldeman are hoots as the British travel writers Eugene and Patricia Fodor; and Erik Michelson is hilarious as the big galoot, Moose.

This is arguably the most ambitious production the Show Palace has tackled in its five-plus years. That the cast and crew pull it off successfully is a tribute to everyone involved.

Theater review

Crazy for You, Show Palace Dinner Theatre, Hudson, Wednesday-Sunday through Feb. 17. Dinner and show, $35.95; show only, $24.95. Ages 12 and younger, $19.95 and $14.95. Call (727) 863-7949 or (888) 655-7469.

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