|
Strictly for entertainment
Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace
are dancing 'til dawn, or at least for two hours a show
Dance ‘til Dawn
New Alexandra Theatre
****
THIS is Philip Marlowe in sequins as
Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace produce an elegant vehicle to display
their amazing dancing skills.
The dances are worked into a storyline which
affectionately pokes fun at the era of 1940’s gangster films set in the
murky world of private detectives as we open in the office of
dishevelled, overweight, cynical PI Tommy Dubrowski, played with
tremendous timing and a sense of fun by Teddy Kempner.
Had Raymond Chandler done comedy then Teddy could
well have been one of his characters.
He works for big Sam, the big
 crime
boss in town, which brings him into contact with Sam’s broad Lana– note
how we get into character - played wonderfully by Abbie Osman.
Osman, whose character tells us repeatedly that
she is not happy, gives us not only glamour but plenty of fun in her
running double act with Kempner, but, when she has to, she can really
belt out a song as in That's Life, her big number as she
is led off to jail.
Lana is the sort of baddy in all this, a moll
with menace, except its all a bit tongue in cheek so you can’t help but
like her – Tommy certainly does . . .lots.
Vincent and Flavia in a sultry moment
Meanwhile back at the plot, Flavia plays
Hollywood star Sadie Strauss, whose screen partner and lover Bobby Burns
is cheating on her with Lana, which, as it turns out, is a bit of a
fatal attraction.
You see Tommy, is the photographer in a blackmail
racket run by Big Sam involving pictures of celebs in compromising
situations, like Tommy and Lana naked for instance, which could lead to
a break up for Lana, or more likely a dismemberment, if big Sam finds
out.
So when the pictures end up in the wrong hands at
the shakedown with Bobby, Bobby ends up on the wrong side of being
alive, with a little help from Lana and her gun – although even as a
murder victim he did remember to tuck his arms in neatly as he was
dragged through a doorway. We do like a tidy corpse.
Would be star Tony Deluca, meanwhile, played by
Vincent Simone, has the hots for Sadie and with Bobby found to be a
philanderer, and, perhaps more importantly, dead, his chances
improve no end, with a happy ever after future appearing over the
horizon, that is until Lana sets him up with the police as the fall guy
for the murder.
We the truth be discovered? Will Tony and Sadie
live happily ever after? Hardly matters really, the narrative is there
to give he dances a reason and we all know it will end happily.
The show is really neither play nor musical
although there is some fine singing, particularly from Oliver Darley as
The Voice. His rendition of that old Breakast at Tiffany’s Henry
Mancini favourite, Moon River, was particularly impressive as was
Stand By Me.
This is a show all about dance, and particularly
a chance for Vincent and Flavia to showcase their talents, and we had it
all with foxtrots and quicksteps and finally their signature dance the
Argentine Tango.
How they manage that at that speed without
bruised and battered shins, and worse in Vincent’s case, is a
mystery.
They were not alone though and the whole ensemble
showed the sort of skills and techniques you expect of professional
dancers. Vincent and Flavia, to their credit, don’t hog the limelight.
They might be the headliners but there is plenty of opportunity and
scope for the 13 strong ensemble to strut their stuff.
There
are plenty of send ups of the Hollywood black and white detective
thrillers of the 30s and 40s such as Tommy’s observation when Tony was
cleared: “The judge wasn’t best pleased but she knew a last- minute plot
twist when she saw one’, or his view that Sadie knew where the
incriminating photographs had been hidden by Lana because “someone might
have told her, or she might have read the script”.
Tommy Dubrowski, played
by with Lana, played by Abbie
Osman,
Teddy Kempner, who make a fine double act
This is a follow up to Vincent and Flavias
successful Midnight Tango tour which, as the name suggests, concentrated
on . . . the Tango.
This has more variety and a more narrative story
which helps to break up the dances and gives them a little more purpose,
such as a flirty dance with a hat or the romantic Moon River
and a sensuous dance with prison bars.
As for the music, eight musicians might be a
small big band, but they made up for it with a big, big sound under
musical director Mark Crossland.
Director and choreographer Karen Bruce keeps up a
good pace and injects plenty of fun into both the script by Ed Curtis
and the dancing on a simple, but effective setting from Morgan Large.
If there is a criticism it perhaps comes more
from the billing than the production, with its description as a dance
show from the Golden Age of Hollywood, which conjures up elegant images
of the likes of Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers and Gene Kelly sweeping up
and down glittering staircases, whereas the Golden Age portrayed is
closer to the likes of Humphrey Bogart and George Raft - not that
that matters. The audience were there to see Vincent
and Flavia dance.
The pair might have become stars through BBC’s
Strictly Come Dancing but they are shining very brightly on
their own these days thank you, and have found their perfect niche to
take ballroom from the dance floor to new levels on stage. To 26-04-14.
Roger Clarke
21-04-14
And on the other foot . . .
*****
AFTER their triumphs in Strictly Come
Dancing and with the hit show Midnight Tango, Vincent Simone and Flavia
Cacace have done it again.
This time it’s a dance and song spectacular
celebrating the golden age of Hollywood, and the audience are treated to
a non-stop treat of eye-popping skill and fabulous footwork.
Vincent plays Tony Deluca with Flavia the
beautiful starlet Sadie Strauss in 1940s LA, and the lovers become
accidentally involved with crooks, though the plot is fairly minor
compared with the awesome dancing of the couple and the rest of an
outstanding cast.
Even the gangsters can dance in this show, and
there is plenty of humour too, mainly inspired by the rubber-faced Teddy
Kempner who, as Tommy Dubrowski, is the perfect narrator. “My wife left
me, but sometimes I’m so miserable it’s like she’s still here,” he
groans.
Abbie Osmon is a delight as dizzy blonde singer
Lana Clemenza, and while the dancers are the big hitters, there is an
excellent contribution from Oliver Darley as The Voice, his singing of
Moon River to accompany Vincent and Flavia in one sketch is particularly
moving.
Vincent lands in prison after being framed over a
wallet theft, which leads to yet another behind-bars spellbinder with
Flavia before the perfect pair sparkle in a dance where their wrists are
chained together.
The choreography by Vincent, Flavia and show
director Karen Bruce is breathtaking throughout. To 26.04.14
Paul Marston
|
