‘42nd Street’ still kicking at Center

Tom Titus

Remember when Warner Baxter told Ruby Keeler “You’re going out there

a youngster, but you’ve got to come back a star”?

If you don’t recall the original moment, it’s understandable. That

line was first uttered 70 years ago, not long after the movies had

learned to talk. It was, of course, from “42nd Street,” one of the

pioneers in the marriage between cinema and musical theater, which

boosted the career of its young director, a fellow named Busby

Berkeley, not to mention the fortunes of the Warner Bros. studio.

Those days are gone, but certainly not forgotten, as attested to

by the well-deserved popularity of the new stage version of “42nd

Street,” playing at the Orange County Performing Arts Center through

Sunday. The show may be a senior citizen, but it still has a good bit

of kick to it.

And “kick” is the operative word, from the moment the curtain

opens, teasingly just a few feet at first, to reveal about a hundred

dancing feet, all prancing in joyous unison. Director Mark Bramble,

recreating director/choreographer Gower Champion’s original moves

from the 1980 premiere (the show’s first stage venture long after it

was etched into cinema legend), has whipped the production into the

same precision-packed shape that fictional director Julian Marsh is

striving for in his “Pretty Lady.”

Updated? No way. This is basically the same “42nd Street” that

Berkeley put on the screen in 1933, with all its corny cliches

intact. But they’re treated lovingly, almost reverentially, as the

current company turns back the clock to Depression mode and $4.50

tickets. Sure, it’s a museum piece, but it’s still a pleasure to

visit.

The star turn in this version somewhat mirrors reality. Catherine

Wreford played an anonymous chorus girl in the original 2001 show

that earned a Tony award as best revival, but now she’s tapping her

way into the history books as the perky Peggy Sawyer, fresh off the

bus from Allentown, Pa., who saves the show when the star (Blair

Ross) breaks her ankle -- actually with a little accidental help from

her replacement.

Rail thin, with hardly enough meat on her bones to cast a shadow,

Wreford displays an enormous wealth of energy with her flying feet

and infectious smile. Her spotlighted production numbers late in the

show abound with style and showmanship, and it’s a true shock to see

her take an early curtain call (she’s third in the show’s pecking

order, even though she’s the true star).

Top-billed Patrick Ryan Sullivan, however, is outstanding as

director Marsh, rendering his mostly cliched dialogue with tongue

firmly implanted in cheek, but with supreme authority. The prima

donna leading lady is pleasingly interpreted by Ross, whose vocal

prowess is sufficient to explain why her character is so revered,

even though she can’t dance well enough to carry a show.

Patti Mariano swipes whatever portions of the show that haven’t

been nailed down by the principals as the petite but perky Maggie

Jones, writer and comic lead for “Pretty Lady” and reminiscent of

Thelma Ritter in a dozen such character roles. Frank Root is a

perfect foil for her and Alana Salvatore (dubbed “Anytime Annie”),

with whom he shares the golden oldie number “Shuffle Off to Buffalo.”

And oldies don’t come any more golden than “Lullaby of Broadway,”

here employed by Marsh and the company to lure the fired chorine back

into the fold and into stardom. It’s one of those moments when you

can just let yourself fall prey to the vintage stereotypes of showbiz

because it’s done so magnificently.

Robert Spring, in the role created on screen by Dick Powell, has

less to do than his predecessor, but he does it grandly, pairing with

first Ross and then Wreford and vaguely romancing the ingenue. Dexter

Jones is a sharp, flashy dance captain.

So come and meet those dancing feet, and see how nimble a

70-year-old can be. The show is in an “extended” (for the Center)

run, through Sunday.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Daily Pilot. His reviews

appear Saturdays.