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'Strut' promises to be crowd-pleaser
By BARBARA L. FREDRICKSEN
© St. Petersburg Times, Over the past few years, the little musical Forever Plaid has become a favorite with Tampa Bay audiences, being brought back to various theaters time after time after time. The Show Palace Dinner Theatre's artistic director, Steven Flaa, thinks the upcoming show at the Palace, The All Night Strut, will earn the same kind of faithful and adoring following. In fact, fans of Strut may be even more enthusiastic since the show has all the mellow favorites from the 1930s and 1940s. "It has In the Mood, Java Jive, Minnie the Moocher, As Time Goes By, and the first act winds up with a World War II medley and the really wonderful and sentimental I'll Be Seeing You," Flaa said. "I did this show about 10 years ago in West Palm Beach, and the audience just ate it up," Flaa said. "Every place they do it, it's a really big hit -- Minneapolis, Detroit, Boston, everywhere." All Night Strut, a musical revue, has a five-member cast and a five-piece band on stage. It's filled with singing and dancing and even has a little comedy. John Leggio is directing and choreographing the production. Bill Cusick is director of music. "John likes the choreography, so he is having some fun with this show," Flaa said. "I love the music; it has lots of tough, tight harmonies, in the style of the Manhattan Transfer, much more difficult than Forever Plaid." The show usually has a cast of four, but Leggio decided to add resident actor Joe Lawrence because of his strong singing voice. Lawrence played lead roles in the Palace's productions of Carousel, Some Like It Hot, The King and I, The Music Man and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and is a favorite with Show Palace audiences. Singing the lead female role is Lisa Watson, an opera and pop music singer currently appearing in the Palace's production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat as the wife of one of the sons of Jacob. Also in the cast are Matt Brewer, who is playing Judah in Joseph; and Kissy Simmons, who is playing the lead of Narrator in Joseph. Ms. Simmons has performed in several productions at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. Rounding out the cast in his Show Palace debut is Todd Heffner, a singer/dancer/actor/musician who recently wound up a stint as Richie in A Chorus Line at The Golden Apple Dinner Theatre in Sarasota. Heffner, the son of Tampa Bay area jazz singer Katt Hefner, recently released his first CD, Dance With Me. He has played major roles in the musicals Pippin, La Cage aux Folles and Dream Girls at Sarasota Players and in the comedy/drama Driving Miss Daisy at that same venue. At a glanceWHAT: The All Night Strut WHERE: Show Palace Dinner Theatre, 16128 U.S. 19, Hudson WHEN: Aug. 24-Sept. 30. Shows are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 1:30 p.m. Aug. 25, Sept. 1 and Sept 8; and 3 p.m. Sundays. Doors open two hours before the show for buffet and cash bar. TICKETS: Dinner and show, $35.95; show only, $24.94. Ages 12 and younger, $19.95 and $14.95. Call 863-7949 in west Pasco; toll free 1-888-655-7469 elsewhere.
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