A young man is besieged by a pushy mother and an aggressive fianc, but all he wants to do is dance.
A Broadway classic, written by Ken Ludwig and featuring music by Ira and George Gershwin, Crazy for You is set in 1933 and filled with bright and tap-tastic musical numbers.
As the action moves from New York City to a near ghost town in the not-so-wild West, handsome cowboys and beautiful dancing girls collide in a rainbow mlange of personality and costumes.
Our hero, Bobby Childs, flees the scene of high expectations in New York City and heads for Deadrock, Nev., where he is supposed to foreclose on a property. Upon arrival, he discovers the property is an old theater, owned by a widower and his beautiful daughter-who, of course, wins the heart of Bobby as soon as their paths cross. Polly is the only woman in town, so she has become skilled at fighting off advances. Even so, she is quite easily wooed with the smooth and sparkly dance moves of the stranger in town.
Her affection is short-lived, however, as there are misunderstandings and impersonations, followed by more pairings than a good hand of Go Fish. These all work together to keep the story interesting and the scenery changing. The Hale Centre is a theater-in-the-round, which lends to the high energy of the production and invites a more intimate theatre experience.
Cecily Ellis as Polly delivers with lovely vocals the many well-known tunes included in the original score.
As with many musicals, there are a few gratuitous musical numbers, but they are entertaining and well done.
With most of the action taking place in a ghost town, audiences are treated to several barroom brawls, both real and staged. The cowboys were naturals for joining in the acting, as they had long enjoyed staging famous Wild West gunfights to pass the time.
All’s well that ends well, and this story is no exception-there are happily-ever-afters all around.
The Hale Centre Theatre’s Crazy for You will run through July 29th.
For more information, call (801) 984-9000 or visit http://www.halecentretheatre.org.
By the knot of their ties