The venerable Skylight Opera Theater opens its 51st season with Dames at Sea, a glittery send-up of 1930s movie musicals. With the Skylight's history of staging Broadway-sized musicals such as The Producers, The Spitfire Grill and White Christmas, audiences might expect this production to be similarly sized. Not so. Only a handful of actors and three musicians attempt to pull off the opulent production numbers. This means everyone onstage (and off, in the case of the musicians) must pull their weight and then some. However, as hard as they try, the large Cabot stage still feels a bit empty, and the sets though pared down to essentials still seem to dwarf the actors.
One of the charms of Dames at Sea is a plot that pushes the audience's credibility to the limit. For instance, when a wannabe chorus girl arrives in New York, all the cards seem to fall her way. Ruby appears unannounced during the rehearsal of a new Broadway musical. The show's producer is unimpressed. But in less than one afternoon, she wins over the producer, lands a part in the show and finds a place to stay for free, no less. Better yet, she meets the sailor of her dreams when he trails after her to return a suitcase she left behind on a bus.
The coincidences keep coming so rapidly that the audience can barely keep up or stop laughing long enough to see what comes next. For instance, a piano emerges from the wings just as someone wants to sing a song. And when the aging theater faces a wrecking ball on opening night, the show is quickly and easily moved to a nearby Navy battleship. By this time, the audience is not surprised to learn that the Broadway star is a former girlfriend of the battleship captain. Such silliness never lets up until the production's show-stopping ending.
Dames at Sea combines a pleasant blend of well-known and new faces to the Skylight cast. Mona, the show's dastardly diva, is played with brilliant irony by Christy Morton. The elegantly attired Morton plays her part so successfully it would make Sunset Boulevard's Mona Desmond weep. That tall, willowy Morton sings and dances like a dream, too, as do all the other players.
As Ruby, Meghan Deese is the perfect choice. Her kewpie-doll face and bouncy black curls make her ideally suited to play the awestruck, talented ingénue. She and her sailor/boyfriend, Dick (Chad Brodsky), make a lovely and likable young couple. Brodsky is leading-man material all the way, with a boyish charm and looks that are just what the casting director ordered: tall, dark and handsome.
Dick's sailor pal, Lucky, is played with just the right amount of goofy humor by Scott Stratton. One of the show's best numbers, "Dames at Sea," takes place onboard the battleship. It pairs the sailors with the ship's captain, expertly played by Mark David Kaplan. He transforms the stuffy captain into a softhearted dreamer as he croons with his shipmates. The number, an innocent ode to the fairer sex, is beautifully staged.
Of course, a tribute to 1930s musicals wouldn't be complete without tap dancing, and this show doesn't disappoint. Pam Kriger's dance numbers are smartly staged. This is one instance in which a smaller cast can make the most of a large stage.
Topping off the fast-paced action is a dizzying array of eye-popping costumes, each one more glittery than the next. When considering the size of the cast, orchestra and the simple, cartoonish sets, it's clear that the majority of the show's budget went into the costumes. That wouldn't bother Busby Berkeley one little bit.
