A callback to the early Busby Berkeley movie musicals will soon sail onto 44th Street. The Haimsohn-Miller-Wise tuner Dames at Sea begins previews on September 24th. An Off-Broadway favorite that had its first life in 1966 starring a then-unknown Bernadette Peters, the show promises to adhere to the writers’ original vision for Dames back in the ‘60s while still keeping the production values audience members expect to see on Broadway in 2015. Originally, Dames was marketed as a parody, but now is instead being touted as a ‘celebration’ of 1930s Busby-Berkeley movie musicals. The production is directed and choreographed by famed tapper Randy Skinner.
Dames at Sea follows Ruby; a fresh-faced Broadway chorus girl who finds out she’ll soon be out of the job she just accepted, since the theater is being demolished before her show even opens to build a roller rink in its place. Desperate to do what they love in front of an audience, Ruby and the dancers enlist the help of sailors to perform the show on a battleship. The cast is small, featuring only six actors. Eloise Kropp (On the Town) stars as Ruby, Mara Davi (Irving Berlin’s White Christmas) as fellow chorus girl Joan, and Lesli Margherita (Matilda) as diva performer Mona. John Bolton (Spamalot) is in a dual role as the Captain/Hennessey, Cary Tedder (Honeymoon in Vegas) as sailor/songwriter Dick, and newcomer Danny Gardner as Lucky.
Dames at Sea will join An American in Paris as being one of the few musicals currently on Broadway with a strong emphasis on dance, though Dames has more traditional Broadway moves than Paris’s ballet-heavy choreography. Its tap style has been described by a member of the creative team as ‘tap meets Mohammed Ali’ to describe the rhythmic grace. The show recently announced winners for a unique dance contest. Entrants of the Dames at Sea ‘Tap-Stravaganza’ choreographed and demonstrated a 60-second tap combination for members of the creative team. Over 100 dancers entered the contest, but only two winners were selected: Danielle Behrens, a recent Marymount Manhattan College grad, and Joshua Israel of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. The prize: to dance at curtain call for the ‘gypsy run’ – stage slang for the final dress rehearsal of the show before previews begin.
Dames at Sea begins previews on September 24th and opens October 22 at the Helen Hayes Theatre on 44th Street.
Watch the World Premiere Commercial for Dames at Sea, hosted by broadwayworld.com: