CHARMING 'ON YOUR TOES' DANCES INTO UCLA'S FREUD.Byline: EVAN EVAN Expandable Van HENERSON THEATER CRITIC This go-round, dance is king at Reprise! Such is not always the case at the now 11-year-old company, which resurrects -- or unearths -- less-frequently performed Broadway treasures. Skilled song, orchestration and performance are usually Reprise!'s strong suit. Still, with a movement-heavy article like Rodgers and Hart's "On Your Toes" on the schedule, the players had best be able to hoof it to foot it. See also: Hoof . This is, after all, a story about the fusion of Russian ballet and '30s jazz making beautiful music -- or is it steps? -- together. "On Your Toes" director Dan Mojica is himself a veteran dance man, and his choreographer, Lee Martino, knows his way around a stage as well. Employing as they do a couple of firecrackers in the play's two central roles -- and bracketing with some savvy character players -- Mojica and Martino prove themselves lords not just of the dance but of the whole package. And seeing Jeffry Denman charm the pants off the play's dopey romantic lead, a viewer has some idea what the discovery of Ray Bolger (who originated Denman's role) must have been like back in the day. The day was 1936, when "On Your Toes" -- choreographed by George Balanchine -- first melded classical dance and jazz in a Broadway play without overtaxing a flimsy plot. The story goes like this: A music professor named Junior -- a one-time kid vaudeville star-- gets a chance to dance with the Russian Ballet and to bring them one of his students' new jazz operas. Along the way, he falls for both the company's hot-blooded prima ballerina and for a girl-next-door songwriter in his class. The one who wrote "It's Got to Be Love." Now, there are lots of accent-challenged Russians within "On Your Toes," including aforementioned diva Vera Barnova (played by Yvette Tucker), and company director Sergei (Dan Butler). But apart from some screaming matches between Vera and her off-again-on-again lover Konstantine (Jonathan Sharp) and some creative use of the "ny" sound (as in "we'll nyever do it,") Mojica leaves slapstick slapstick Comedy characterized by broad humour, absurd situations, and vigorous, often violent action. It took its name from a paddlelike device, probably introduced by 16th-century commedia dell'arte troupes, that produced a resounding whack when one comic actor used it to at a bare minimum. The Russians are simply not the butt of the humor here. Stefanie Powers, her bone-dry archness suggestive of suggestive of Decision making adjective Referring to a pattern by LM or imaging, that the interpreter associates with a particular–usually malignant lesion. See Aunt Millie approach, Defensive medicine. a less caustic Bea Arthur, effortlessly dispatches the ballet's American patroness and manager. Rather idiotically, the script pairs her Peggy Porterfield with Sergei, but that's merely an excuse to reinsert Re`in`sert´ v. t. 1. To insert again. the second-act charmer charm·er n. 1. One that charms, especially a disarmingly attractive person. 2. One who casts spells; an enchanter or magician. Noun 1. "You Took Advantage of Me," back into the score. It's Powers' second duet with Butler. She soft-shoes just as skillfully with Denman in "The Heart Is Quicker Than the Eye." Tucker (most recently seen leading Pasadena Playhouse's "Can-Can") is terrifically sensual as Vera, a veritable shoe-throwing hellcat who vamps and fumes fumes odorous gases and other volatile materials; inhalation of irritating fumes causes coughing and, if sufficiently severe, irreversible pulmonary edema. with equal comic brio. Beth Malone is sunny and winsome win·some adj. Charming, often in a childlike or naive way. [Middle English winsum, from Old English wynsum : from wynn, joy; see wen-1 as Frankie Frayne, Vera's rival for Junior's affection. The production's real find, however is Denman, who combines a bookish book·ish adj. 1. Of, relating to, or resembling a book. 2. Fond of books; studious. 3. Relying chiefly on book learning: sexiness with a hoofer's grace. Sharing a love duet with Malone or bumblingly sabotaging the company's "Princesse prin·cesse adj. Princess: a gown cut on princesse lines. [French, from Old French, princess; see princess.] Zenobia Ballet," the man's got all sorts of charm. And when he and Tucker get it on during the climactic "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue Slaughter on Tenth Avenue is the name of a ballet by Richard Rodgers. It was choreographed by George Balanchine. It occurs near the end of Rodgers and Hart's 1936 Broadway musical comedy On Your Toes. " ballet, look out! "On Your Toes" unofficially kicks off the tenure of new Reprise! artistic director Jason Alexander, who did not program this show and who appears to have some interesting plans ahead for the company. Whatever may be coming at Reprise!, here's hoping dance of "On Your Toes" caliber remains on the menu. Evan Henerson, (818) 713-3651 evan.henerson@dailynews.com ON YOUR TOES - Three and one half stars >Where: UCLA's Freud Playhouse, Westwood. >When: 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday; through Aug. 26. >Tickets: $70 to $75. (310) 825-2101, www.reprise.org. >In a nutshell: Hoofing fit to beat the band. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Yvette Tucker is diva ballerina Vera Barnova opposite Jeffry Denman as jazz musician and professor Junior Donal in "On Your Toes," a Reprise! production at UCLA's Freud Playhouse through Aug. 26. |
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