Dames at Sea

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DAMES AT SEA
Original Cast recording
Music Jim Wise
Lyrics George Haimsohn
Robin Miller
Book George Haimsohn
Robin Miller
Productions 1966 Off-Off-Broadway
1968 Off-Broadway
1969 West End
1989 West End revival

Dames at Sea is a musical with book and lyrics by George Haimsohn and Robin Miller and music by Jim Wise.

The musical is a spoof of large, flashy 1930s Busby Berkeley-style movie musicals in which an understudy steps into a role on Broadway and becomes a star. It originally played off off-Broadway in 1966 at the Caffe Cino, starring newcomer Bernadette Peters and then played off-Broadway beginning in 1968 for a successful run. The show has enjoyed a London run, a television adaptation and a number of revivals.

Contents

[edit] Production history

The musical was originally a short sketch, based loosely on the Gold Diggers movies, written by George Haimsohn, Jim Wise, and Robin Miller. The character of "Ruby" was suggested by the Ruby Keeler-type from those early movies. It was lengthened to a 50-minute production, and director Robert Dahdah prepared it for its first staging. After the original actress who was to play "Ruby" withdrew during rehearsals, choreographer Don Price recommended newcomer Bernadette Peters for the role. The show opened in May 1966 as Dames at Sea, or Golddiggers Afloat at the Caffe Cino, a small coffee house/performance space in New York City's Greenwich Village, where it continued for 148 performances. [1]

Retitled simply Dames at Sea, the musical re-opened at the Bouwerie Lane Theatre on December 20, 1968, and transferred to the larger Theater de Lys on April 22, 1969, running for a total of 575 performances. [2] Directed by Neal Kenyon, Peters reprised the role of Ruby as did David Christmas, co-starring as Dick.

On August 27, 1969, the show opened at London's Duchess Theatre, [3] where it ran for 127 performances.

Peters appeared in a regional production at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey in early 1973. [4] Subsequent revivals have been staged at the Lamb's Theatre in Manhattan (1985) [5], the Haymarket Theatre, Leicester, London (1989) [6], and at the theatre where the musical first played off-Broadway, the Bouwerie Lane Theatre, from September 3, 2004 to November 28, 2004.[7]

[edit] Plot synopsis

In the early 1930s, a Broadway musical is in rehearsal. Mona Kent is its temperamental diva star, Joan a wise-cracking chorus girl, and Hennesy the producer/manager. The naive Ruby arrives from Utah, with "nothing but tap shoes in her suitcase and a prayer in her heart" [8], determined to be a Broadway star. She promptly faints into the arms of Dick, a sailor and aspiring song writer ("It's You"). Ruby gets a job in the chorus, but Hennesy informs the cast that the theater must be torn down, and they must find another place for the show. Joan and Lucky, another sailor and her former boyfriend, renew their romance ("Choo-Choo Honeymoon") while Ruby admits her feelings for Dick ("The Sailor of My Dreams"). Dick and Lucky persuade their Captain to volunteer the use of their ship. Mona recognizes the Captain as a former boyfriend. When Mona kisses Dick, to persuade him to give her one of his songs, Ruby sees and is despondent ("Raining In My Heart"). Dick explains the misunderstanding and the couple make-up. While rehearsing on the actual ship, Mona becomes sea sick; Ruby steps in to save the show and becomes a star. The three couples decide to marry ("Let's Have A Simple Wedding").

[edit] Other elements

The music is a mixture of parody, such as the torch song ""That Mister Man", pastische ("Raining in My Heart"), and the real thing. [9]

The joke was that, while spoofing the large, lavish movie musicals, Dames at Sea did it with a cast of six, 2 pianos and percussion, and a tiny stage. [10]

[edit] Musical numbers (1968)

[11][12]

Act I
  • "Overture"
  • "Wall Street"--Mona
  • "It's You"--Dick and Ruby
  • "Broadway Baby"--Dick
  • "That Mister Of Mine"--Mona and Chorus
  • "Choo-Choo Honeymoon"--Joan and Lucky
  • "The Sailor of My Dreams"--Ruby
  • "Singapore Sue"--Lucky and Company
  • "Broadway Baby" (reprise)--Hennesy
  • "Good Times Are Here To Stay"--Mona, Joan and Company
Act II
  • "Dames At Sea"--Company
  • "The Beguine"--Mona and Captain
  • "Raining In My Heart"--Ruby and Chorus
  • "There's Something About You"--Dick and Ruby
  • "Raining In My Heart" (reprise)--Ruby
  • "The Echo Waltz"--Mona, Joan, Ruby and Company
  • "Star Tar"--Ruby and Company
  • "Let's Have A Simple Wedding"--Company

[edit] Critical response

In his December 22, 1968, review in the New York Times, Clive Barnes wrote, "Dames At Sea is a real winner, a little gem of a musical. The show is wonderfully helped by its cast. The star I suppose is Bernadette Peters as the wholly sweetly silly small-town chorine who taps her way from the bus station to stardom in 24 hours." [13] Walter Kerr, in his Sunday Times feature article, added "You'll find the show cheerful and ingratiating, I think... Miss Peters is a real find... She is extremely funny, and endearing on top of that." [14]

[edit] Television

An adaptation for television starred Ann-Margret as Ruby, Ann Miller as Mona, Anne Meara as Joan, Harvey Evans as Dick, and Fred Gwynne as the Captain/Hennesy. [15]It was broadcast on the Bell System Family Theater on NBC on November 15, 1971. The cast had extra chorus girls and boys, and there were full production numbers, turning into the very thing it was spoofing. Ann Miller was singled out for praise, especially when "she was allowed to tap out her brassy...temperamental star..." [16]

[edit] Recording

The original off-Broadway Cast Recording was released in 1969 by Columbia Masterworks Records (Columbia OS 3330) [17] and issued on CD by Sony.[18] The Original London Cast Recording is also available on CD.

[edit] Awards and nominations

[19] [20]

Drama Desk Award
  • Best Direction (Neal Kenyon) (winner)
  • Outstanding Lyrics (George Haimsohn and Robin Miller) (winner)
  • Outstanding Performance (Bernadette Peters) (winner)
Outer Critics Circle Award
  • Best Off Broadway Musical (winner)

[edit] References

  1. ^ Stone, Wendell C. (2005). Caffe Cino: The Birthplace of Off-Off Broadway. Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press, pages 121-22. ISBN 0-8093-2644-2
  2. ^ Lortel Archives-The Internet Off-Broadway Database
  3. ^ New York Times, "Dames At Sea" Gets Split London Vote", August 29, 1969, pg. 24
  4. ^ ABOUT PAPER MILL: History
  5. ^ New York Times, Mel Gussow, June 13, 1985, Section C, pg. 33
  6. ^ The Financial Times (London), "Crazy About the Navy", B. A. Young, July 22, 1989, Sec. I, pg. 17
  7. ^ Curtain Up review, September 2004
  8. ^ New York Times, Walter Kerr, January 5, 1969, p. D1
  9. ^ New York Times, John Wilson, "Happily Afloat with 'Dames at Sea' ", July 6, 1969
  10. ^ Open a New Window: The Broadway Musical in the 1960s (2002), Ethan Mordden, p. 184, Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 1403960135
  11. ^ Original 1968 Cast recording
  12. ^ [http://www.curtainup.com/damesatsea.html Curtain Up review
  13. ^ New York Times, Clive Barnes, December 22, 1968, p. 54
  14. ^ New York Times, January 5, 1969
  15. ^ Dames at Sea (1971) (TV)
  16. ^ New York Times, John J. O'Connor, November 17, 1971, p. 94
  17. ^ New York Times, John Wilson, "Happily Afloat with 'Dames at Sea' ", July 6, 1969, pg. D4
  18. ^ "Dames at Sea" on amazon.com
  19. ^ Drama Desk Awards2006 - Winners 2001
  20. ^ Outer Critics Circle

[edit] External links