In the Depression, Were They Depressed? Nowhere Near

Mary Beth Donahue in "42nd Street" News-Progress photos by Keith Stewart.

Little “nifties” from the Fifties,

Innocent and sweet;

Sexy ladies from the Eighties,

Who are indiscreet.

They’re side by side, they’re glorified

Where the underworld can meet the elite,

Forty-Second Street.

— “42^nd Street”

By Dan Hagen

When you think of the generic term “Broadway musical,” the Little Theatre’s 2014 summer season opener — “42^nd Street” — is probably the kind of show that springs to mind.

It’s that “You’re going out there a youngster, but you’re coming back a star!” musical. Yes, that very bit has been a cliché for 70 or 80 years now, at least since the deep Depression debut, in 1933, of the Dick Powell/Ruby Keeler film that inspired this 1980 stage musical.

And that’s the problem I always have with this show, the paper-thin plot we’re stuck with. It’s not so much a plot, in fact, as a skeletal dramatic scaffolding on which to hang a number of crowd-pleasing tap-dance numbers.

Why, for example, does the lead character Peggy Sawyer have to be convinced to return and become a Broadway star when that’s the only thing she’s dreamed of all her life? The answer is that it doesn’t make any sense in terms of the character. It’s just a place holder for a big production number of “The Lullaby of Broadway.” Actors like Alex Jorth are saddled with characters like Billy Lawlor, who falls in love with the heroine the first second he sees her and then does nothing but sing and dance for the rest of the show.

In any case, the romantic relationships here, such as they are, are mere afterthoughts, taking a back seat on the ride to this musical’s real love, which is ambition for fame. Americans have had their idols for a long, long time, you know.

What can be done with this show, director/choreographer Kelly Shook and her cast gamely do. Luckily, they are able to razzle-dazzle their way to several happy, kinetic high spots, aided by the colorful period costumes of Edward Carignan, the spectacular lighting design of Greg Solomon and the musical direction of Kevin Long.

Those high points include:

• The cheerily vulgar comic number “Shuffle Off to Buffalo,” starring John McAvaney, the vivacious Melissa Jones and Little Theatre veteran Therese Kincade, who has stage presence to spare in case anybody else runs out.

• Big, showy, rainbow-costumed dance numbers like “Dames,” in which vividly bright girls emerge from a big deco clock, and “Shadow Waltz,” where dancers are choreographed to interact with giant shadows.

• Gus Gordon, a familiar face at the Little Theatre, who brings a convincing, matter-of-fact authority to the role of the producer, Julian Marsh, and the voice of authority to the title tune.

• Lee Ann Payne, an Equity actress who is awfully good, much bigger than the material. Last year she stopped the show as Reno Sweeney, the Merman part, in “Anything Goes,” and here she’s again the big, established star who looms large in numbers like “Quarter to Nine.”

Heather Dore Johnson and Alex Jorth

• Mary Beth Donahue, who is really perfect as the heroine Peggy. She’s spectacularly pretty with a face that seems to radiate genuine sunshine, neither forced nor affected. Donahue dances well, and has something of the star quality of a young Shirley MacLaine.

Incidental intelligence: “42^nd Street’ runs through June 15. Based on a film that was in turn based on a novel by Bradford Ropes, the musical has book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble, lyrics by Al Dubin, and music by Harry Warren. A 1980 Broadway production, directed by Gower Champion and orchestrated by Philip J. Lang, won the Tony Award for Best Musical. In London in 1984, the show won the Olivier Award for Best Musical and its 2001 Broadway revival won the Tony for Best Revival.

The show has scenic design by Alex M. Gaines and stage management by Jeremy J. Phillips. The cast includes Michael Weaver, David Barkley, Marty Harbaugh, Andy Hudson, Gabriel Alonzo Smith, Hanah Rose Nardone, Haley Jane Schafer, Heather Dore Johnson, Megan E. Farley, Emily Bacino Althaus, Emma Taylor, John Cardenas, Mike Danovich, Brady Miller, Niko Pagsisihan, Josh Houghton and Andy Frank.

For tickets, call The Little Theatre On The Square Box Office at 217-728-7375