In the dark, The Man in the Chair (engaging Michael Bajjaly) prays the show will be good. With great verve The Golden Apple's directors and cast answer his prayers...for " a real story and a few good songs" that will take him away! Actually, he's kept in his apartment, but it's transformed into sets from the silliest to most elaborate with props that include a huge airplane.
The Man's not only able to turn a remastered original cast recording into a recreated '20s-'30s musical; he can tell who played the parts back then and gives backstage notes. No matter how far fetched the action or unlikely the characterizations of yore, he convinces they're not inferior to today's musical comedy fare. Same goes for the tunes that the types sing and dance to.
The show's plot is simple. Janet Van de Graaf no longer wants to be a "Showoff" star (though Leigh Anne Wuest beautifully demonstrates why she is). On the day she's about to abandon Broadway to wed wealthy socialite Robert Martin (Ernest Weldon, with toothy smile and self-assured manner), her Producer, Feldzieg (Ryan Kimball Fitts, rightly stressed), sets out to nix the nuptials. He needs her box office draw to pay off investment debts.
To collect from Feldzieg, two gangsters (threatening Erik Emmerson, Scott Vitale or J. Paul Wargo) pose as pastry chefs for the wedding feast. They're in crazy company (all dressed in elaborate costumes) on the big day.
George (bouncy Berry Ayers) is the groom's (really best) man. He does a mean tap, especially considering their "Cold Feets." Brassy Kyle Turoff's confidante to Janet is supposed to be warding off bad luck by keeping the prospective groom from seeing the bride-to-be prior to marriage. She acts more as the tipsy, sharp-tongued title character.
Brian Minyard exaggerates the sort-of-Latin lover, Adolpho, hired to make love to Janet, distracting her from Robert. But Adolpho himself gets distracted. Meanwhile, chorus gal Kitty (blond and boisterous Lauren Clark) not only wants to get Feldzieg to give her Janet's leading part. She also wants Feldzieg!
As the unwitting hostess of the wedding party, Roberta McDonald's ditsy socialite Mrs. Tottendale has to be set straight by Underling (David P. Brown, playing tired but true), her devoted butler. They tunefully signal the conclusion: "Love Is Always Lovely in the End." But not before Ellie Pattison's sparkly Trix offers them and others a spectacular way to take flight.
Kudos to The Man in the Chair and those at the Apple who help him stage his dream show. Nothing dark about it from live overture onward.
