DAMES AT SEA is a tap-happy celebration of the golden era of movie musicals with a heart as big as the ocean! Directed and choreographed by the three-time Tony Award-nominated choreographer Randy Skinner (42nd Street, Irving Berlin's White Christmas), this gem of a show has been reimagined for the bright lights of Broadway and taken to glamorous and spectacular new heights! Featuring rollicking tap dancing, love at first sight, joyful music and a boatload of laughs, this glittering musical extravaganza has everything you need for an unforgettable night at the theatre.
'Dames at Sea,' the ultra-campy 1966 musical about the you'll-come-back-a-star backstage movie musicals of the early '30s, has finally made it to Broadway. I'm not sure why, since the point of the show...is that it's a low-budget miniature send-up of the genre...though this gussied-up revival...is nothing if not charming. If you like high-velocity tap dancing, you'll see (and hear) plenty of it, and Mr. Skinner flings his tiny cast across the smallish stage of the 597-seat Helen Hayes Theatre with endless visual ingenuity, aided and abetted by Jonathan Tunick's flawless period-style orchestrations for the eight-piece band. So what's not to like? Nothing whatsoever -- but there isn't enough to love about 'Dames at Sea,' which may have seemed sufficiently witty a half-century ago but has long since been outclassed...
Originally staged in 1966, but never before on Broadway, 'Dames at Sea' is a spoof of those old-fashioned, Depression-era 'backstage' musicals...It's one of those wink-wink, nudge-nudge shows...that seeks to make fun of corny Broadway conventions, all the while luxuriating in the cornfields...Even the silliest spoof, though, demands a measure of humility, whereas from the shrill opening number, 'Wall Street,' 'Dames at Sea' is pitched at those sitting in the balcony of the theater across the street. The frantic pacing never allows us develop even the slightest emotional connection to the characters, and the brassy, cutesy songs...soon start to blur together. Points to the impressive cast of six, especially in the breathless tap dancing numbers...But a little of this elbowing-in-the-ribs goes an awfully long way.
1968 | Off-Broadway |
Original Off-Broadway Production Off-Broadway |
1969 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
1969 | West End |
London Production West End |
1970 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway Revival Off-Broadway |
1970 | Regional (US) |
Regional Revival Regional (US) |
1973 | Milburn, NJ (Regional) |
Paper Mill Production Milburn, NJ (Regional) |
1985 | Regional (US) |
Regional Revival Regional (US) |
1985 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway Revival Off-Broadway |
1996 | West End |
London Revival West End |
2004 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway Revival Off-Broadway |
2015 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2016 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Choreography | Randy Skinner |
2016 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical | Dames at Sea |
2016 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Choreography | Randy Skinner |
2016 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Musical (Broadway or off-Broadway) | Dames at Sea |
2016 | Tony Awards | Best Choreography | Randy Skinner |
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