Show Palace's 'Man of La Mancha' is a must-see-again

People tell me I have the cushiest job in the world. I do what I love more than anything -- go to plays, concerts and restaurants -- and then tell everybody what I think about them. Best of all, it's all on the boss' nickel.

Egad, does life get any better?

Still, watching a play or musical as a reviewer isn't the same as settling in and watching it as a patron. I can't get carried away by the story (okay, I do sometimes cry during the sad parts) because I'm having to listen for the quality of the music and voices, notice whether the set works well with the action and be aware of sour notes, miscast performers, annoying delays, poor lighting, tacky costumes and even the behavior of the audience.

When I go to a show that I especially like, I sometimes go back (on my own nickel) to see it again.

I can't wait to see Man of La Mancha at the Show Palace Dinner Theatre again.

It really is an extraordinary production.

I listened to the original Broadway cast's CD of Man of La Mancha after I saw the Show Palace version last week, and I don't think the Broadway voices were any better (in some instances, not as good) than many of the voices at the Show Palace. Broadway's Aldonza doesn't have half the punch of the Show Palace's Aldonza, Angela Bond. What a singer.

Watch for the Padre; that's New Port Richey's own Michael Ursua, who has spent the last decade on Broadway and national tours as Motel in Fiddler on the Roof, the title role in Candide, Jean-Michel in La Cage aux Folles, and the lead in Singin' in the Rain.

Ursua and his sister Shanna, who directed the boffo musical Crazy for You in January, got their start at Richey Suncoast Theatre many years ago. Both went on to successful Broadway and national touring careers (Shanna even went international) before coming back to Pasco County -- Shanna to open a dance studio with her husband, Chris, also a Broadway dancer, and Michael just to visit and perform for a while.

Purists may wince that such a grand show uses recorded music, but having heard all too many off-key and/or skimpy theater orchestras, I've lost my purist-ness. Tinny recorded music drives me nuts, (and the Show Palace has had its share of that in the past), but the Man of La Mancha music has a rich, deep orchestral sound that musical director Bill Cusick cues as deftly as though he were leading a full contingent of musicians.

A nice onstage touch is flamenco dancer Pollyanna Hayes' castanets, which click a languid tempo during sultry moments and buzz like a rattlesnake when there's danger.

And was anyone else spooked by the hanging torches in set designer Tom Hansen's dungeon scene? Don't worry; the fires are an illusion. The audience isn't going to go up in flames.

Angel Cabaret Theatre owner-producer Jimmy Ferraro called to say he's changing one of his summer shows. Instead of the musical Grease (July 5-Aug. 11), he's doing the little musical, The Taffetas, a show often called "The Female Forever Plaid."

The change came when production rights for Grease were pulled because of an upcoming national tour of the show. New York producers don't fancy spending gazillions to bring a big show like Grease to town, only to have a local theater doing the show at the same time.

The Taffetas is built around the music of the 1950s: Mister Sandman, Where the Boys Are, Tennessee Waltz, How Much Is That Doggie in the Window? and the like. There are period commercials -- "See the U.S.A. in your Chevrolet!" -- and spoofs of '50s television shows.

Frankly, I think this is a blessing in disguise. So far, the Angel Cabaret's most successful show has been Me and Jezebel, a clever, two-person show that had never been seen in this area before.

Grease is sort of like Bye, Bye, Birdie: Every high school and community theater has done it and done it again. Area theatergoers will probably respond better to a fresh, new show like The Taffetas, just as they did to Me and Jezebel.

Interestingly, The Taffetas will be playing around the time the Show Palace Dinner Theatre does a revue-type show with 1960s music, Smokey Joe's Cafe, The Songs of Leiber and Stoller. That one has stuff like Hound Dog, On Broadway, Fools Fall in Love, Yakety Yak, Kansas City, Stand by Me and Poison Ivy.

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