|
Spirited match of song and strut
[Times photo: Janel Schroeder-Norton]
From left, Todd Heffner, Lisa Katt Watson, Matt Brewer, Kissy Simmons and Joe Lawrence rehearse for their upcoming show The All Night Strut at The Show Palace. |
By BARBARA L. FREDRICKSEN
© St. Petersburg Times,
published August 23, 2001
A cast of six singers and dancers brings music of the '30s and '40s to life in The All Night Strut at the Show Palace Dinner Theatre.
|
 |
HUDSON -- Singer-dancer John Leggio can hardly contain his enthusiasm for the show he's directing and choreographing at the Show Palace Dinner Theatre, The All Night Strut.
"There's not going to be a dull moment in this show, ever," he said during a break in rehearsal. "It's a lively show, and its ballads are tunes that everyone knows."
The show, opening Friday for a six-week run, is a high-stepping, lots-of-singing revue of songs from the 1930s and '40s.
"It has In the Mood, Java Jive, Minnie the Moocher, As Time Goes By," said Steven Flaa, the theater's artistic director. "The first act winds up with a World War II medley and the really wonderful and sentimental I'll Be Seeing You."
"I did this show about 10 years ago in West Palm Beach, and the audience just ate it up," he said. "Every place they do it, it's a really big hit -- Minneapolis, Detroit, Boston, everywhere." The show has a six-member cast; music director Bill Cusick's five-piece band will be on stage.
The Show Palace's production started out with five members: singer-dancers Matt Brewer, Todd Heffner, Kissy Simmons and Lisa Watson and singer Joe Lawrence. Leggio, a veteran of the Broadway production of Cats and the former featured dancer-singer on The Rosie O'Donnell Show, joined the cast when he decided to pump up the dancing in the show.
"The original show was sung behind a microphone, but I wanted a lot more dancing," Leggio said. "I like to do characters where you're acting out the sense of the song. If the (singers) are stuck behind microphones, they can't tell the story. This way, I can put them behind tables and they can tell the story a little more."
Leggio said his participation also frees up the other dancers for solo numbers.
"Todd is a great performer, a strong presence on stage," Leggio said. "He is going to look great in his solos. He'll really connect with the audience. Kissy will knock them down with Operator, a kind of gospel number with tambourines. This show is really going to show off Lisa's voice."
Lawrence, who played leads in Palace productions of Carousel, Some Like It Hot, The King and I, The Music Man and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, was brought on board to add vocal heft.
"This will highlight Joe's voice more than any show he had done here," Leggio said. "In book shows, he has one or two big numbers, but in this, he gets to do several."
PREVIEW
The All Night Strut opens Friday and continues through Sept. 30 at Show Palace Dinner Theatre, 16128 U.S. 19, Hudson. Showtimes: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 1:30 p.m. Aug. 25, Sept. 1 and Sept 8; and 3 p.m. Sundays. Doors open 2 hours before the show for buffet and cash bar. Dinner and show, $35.95; show only, $24.94. Ages 12 and younger, $19.95 and $14.95. Call (727) 863-7949 in west Pasco; toll free 1-888-655-7469 elsewhere.
Back to Weekend
© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111
|
