DAMES AT SEA is a tap-happy celebration of the golden era of movie musicals with a heart as big as the ocean! Directed and choreographed by the three-time Tony Award-nominated choreographer Randy Skinner (42nd Street, Irving Berlin's White Christmas), this gem of a show has been reimagined for the bright lights of Broadway and taken to glamorous and spectacular new heights! Featuring rollicking tap dancing, love at first sight, joyful music and a boatload of laughs, this glittering musical extravaganza has everything you need for an unforgettable night at the theatre.
Rather than comment on the quirks or shortcomings of their models, [the songs] merely copy them, in presumably deliberate and definitely third-rate imitations...What once made this mediocre material work, if anything did, was the panicky contrast between the outsize ambition of the '30s originals and the downsized reality of the spit-and-cardboard tribute...The camp, in other words, was genuine. And while it's lovely to hear the score orchestrated (by Jonathan Tunick, no less) for eight instruments instead of two pianos and a drum set, the material's internal wiring gets tangled when mounted at the scale -- and with the bland polish -- of Randy Skinner's Broadway production...Not to pile on, but I was surprised to find most of the dancing, and for that matter the performances in general, so ineloquent...Camp, it turns out, can't be faked; without deprivation and desperation, there is no wit.
'Dames at Sea' is a mid-1960s musical trifle that works overtime to be cheeky good fun. Thanks to a cast with twinkle-toes and polished pipes, it succeeds -- for a while. Before long, though, monotony sets in and won't go away. Even top-notch tap-dancing can get repetitive...Now on Broadway for the first time, in this revival choreographed and directed by Randy Skinner, the cast is still small but the production values are beefed up. In some ways, this 'Dames at Sea' mirrors what it's lampooning, so it's neither fish nor fowl. Put another way, 'Dames at Sea' doesn't make a big splash or sink. It treads water.
1968 | Off-Broadway |
Original Off-Broadway Production Off-Broadway |
1969 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
1969 | West End |
London Production West End |
1970 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway Revival Off-Broadway |
1970 | Regional (US) |
Regional Revival Regional (US) |
1973 | Milburn, NJ (Regional) |
Paper Mill Production Milburn, NJ (Regional) |
1985 | Regional (US) |
Regional Revival Regional (US) |
1985 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway Revival Off-Broadway |
1996 | West End |
London Revival West End |
2004 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway Revival Off-Broadway |
2015 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2016 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Choreography | Randy Skinner |
2016 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical | Dames at Sea |
2016 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Choreography | Randy Skinner |
2016 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Musical (Broadway or off-Broadway) | Dames at Sea |
2016 | Tony Awards | Best Choreography | Randy Skinner |
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