by
Tony Annicone
Little Rhody Entertainment Writer
Mill River Dinner Theater's
current show is a romantic musical comedy called "That's
What Women Get Ya". It is set in 1939 and is a campy,
tongue in cheek comedy which pokes fun at the romantic
comedies of yesteryear. Bailey's restaurant is known for
its soup, however when Mr. Bailey passes away, the
famous recipe can't be found by his son, Stewart. A
society debutante has her eye on both the recipe and the
son, planning on marrying him. Throw in an undercover
reporter disguised as a waitress, a harried newspaper
editor, a tasteless food critic and a humble bartender
and these are the ingredients in this clever show with
some blues, jazz and ballads as some of the savory
songs.
Director Chuck PetitBon not only
directs this show but built a gorgeous restaurant set as
well as a newspaper set to make the scenes flow into one
another, giving the audience an after dinner treat as
they look back at the fun filled 1930's with his
talented cast.
The show begins with a pantomime
to show the father's funeral and Stewart's frantic
search for the soup du jour recipe. Paul Morin not only
plays Stewart but also musically directed the show. He
recorded the tracks of the songs beautifully and it
sounds as if its done live. Paul's tenor voice soars in
his numbers from his solos "Where?" as he searches for
the recipe, "In Love With Kate" as he finally falls in
love with the girl of his dreams, "So Sorry, Tiffany" as
he dumps his bitchy fiancee, to the title number duet
with Tom Lavallee as Franklin O'Shea, the tres gay
bartender. In the latter number which sounds like "Brush
Up Your Shakespeare" or "Everybody Ought to Have a
Maid", Paul and Tom come into the audience as they
deliver the clever melody and lyrics to the crowd. Tom
is a hoot as this comic character and also gets to show
off his strong tenor voice in his numbers, including two
gorgeous ballads. The first is an Irish song called "The
Wedding Toast" and the latter is "Look Behind the Face".
Besides the comic title song, Paul and Tom do a trio
with Staci Watkinson called "Mr. Chaplin Wait Your Turn"
as the guys sing and dance like Chaplin with canes.
There is also a take off on Chaplin's song "Smile" which
is sung within this song. Staci is a gorgeous blonde
with a lovely soprano voice which she uses in the group
songs and in "Write the Story" which sounds like "Waitin
for the Robert E. Lee" and the love song with Paul at
the close of the show. She and Paul have wonderful
chemistry together, making the love story click in this
show.
The shrewish, whining fiancee,
Tiffany is well played by Michele Graf. She makes the
character come to life in her blustery scenes with Paul.
Michele gets to show off her voice in "The Nothin' to
Complain about Blues" where all she does is complain.
Lee Rush is hilarious as the Joan Crawford like grande
dame of the newspaper racket as she enters all her
scenes in a grand flourish. She gets to show off her
voice in the "Soup Montage" where the ensemble
constantly moves about the stage while shaking their
hips to the song as well as in the duet number called "A
Lovely Scandal" where she and Alex Aponte sing about how
they love to ruin people's lives with their tales. They
dance during this number with hats and canes which is
very funny. Alex plays the constantly worried newspaper
editor who needs his reporters to scoop the other papers
in town so they can sell more papers. Besides his duet
with Lee, he also sings the opening number with Staci
called "The Scoop on Soup".
Before the show Chuck prepares the
sumptuous dinner which includes all you can eat chicken
vegetable soup, warm Italian bread, carrots, oven baked
white and sweet potatoes as well as five different
entrees. I had the stuffed breast of chicken with wild
rice and gravy and for dessert a home made apple
turnover and coffee. Heather Carey is the hard working
stage manager and Marcia PetitBon and Gert Dumont
supply the lovely period costumes.
So for wonderful dinnertainment,
be sure to catch this clever musical at Mill River
Dinner Theater.
"THAT'S WHAT WOMEN GET YA" (
9 September - 16 October, 2005)
Mill River Players
Mill River Dinner Theater, 499 High Street, Central
Falls, RI
1 (401) 721-0909 or
www.millrivertheater.com
|
