marvelous dancing, but...

July 21, 2002 performance reviewed by Frances Benn Hall

The best thing in A Saint She Ain’t at the Berkshire Theatre Festival ( berkshiretheatre.org ) is the dancing, which is absolutely marvelous. This dancing occurs in the Hollywood of the 1940’s, with characters based on W. C. Fields, Jimmy Durante, Mae West, and recognizable others, vividly evoked.

The costumes are elegant and properly period, the Hollywood backdrop changes colors with the lighting, and all eight actors in this extravaganza throw themselves into their roles with zest and skill.

That said, I must admit that the audience, a rather raucous one on opening night, responding wildly with guffaws and applause, seemed to enjoy the play more than I did. The actors and dancers, for me, seemed better than their material.

The book, by Dick Vosburgh, while giving the actors occasion to strut their talents for parody, gave them little memorable to sing about. However, Denis King’s music did provide fine rhythms to tap dance to, although the lyrics and the tunes were not memorable in themselves.

The slight plot concerns three sailors on shore-leave in Hollywood in 1943 and the various love entanglements created by confusion as to who is married to whom among the three females and five males in the cast.

All of the actors are fine. Especially noteworthy is Christina Marie Norrup, who not only played the Rita Hayworth-type heroine, but who also doubled as a 1920’s flapper in a retrospective number, “I Love to Hold Rose with the Rolled Hose and the Shing-Shing-Singled Hair.” As heroine, she danced romantically with sailor-hero Danny O”Reilly (Jason Gillman); as flapper she and her partner Joe Blum (the Durante character who in the plot is her father) brought down the house in what was probably the best number in the evening.

Norrup also served as dance captain of the many dances choreographed brilliantly by Gerry McIntyre. Joel Blum as Ray Bagalucci (the Durante parody) and P.J. Benjamin as Snavely T. Bogle (W. C. Fields including the red nose) and Allison Briner as Faye Bogle, an exquisitely gowned Mae West look-alike, all played their roles well, although often one wished they had better lines to deal with.

Blum is an expert dancer and his motor skills carried over even when he wasn’t dancing. All had the parody voices down pat. Brinner had the show’s most elegant glittery costumes and wore them seductively.

Jason Gilman as Danny O’Reilly out-kellied Gene Kelly in his entrance solo tap dance, including up and down stairs. He was also skilled and delightful in his duets with the heroine, especially a number called “Can’t Help Dancing.”

Roland Rusinek and Jay Russell as a couple of sailors seemed delighted with their gag routines, delivering them with gusto and they danced well in a duet. Rusinek also cavorted well in a duet with Lovette George who, besides being one of the Andrews Sisters, played Trudy McCloy, a lusty girl on the make.

This show may delight summer audiences desiring to laugh and get away from it all. For me, it seemed less funny than it tried to be, despite skillful performers. However, it is well paced by director Eric Hill, and he and the cast have captured what comedy is there, even though, at times, it seemed reaching for itself. My negative vote may be a minority one. Possibly every summer theatre season needs a bit of fluff.