"Steel Pier"

Theatre review
"Steel Pier" at Syracuse Stage
Ithaca Times
October 15, 2008
670 words
"'Spirited in acting and breathtaking in choreography, 'Steel Pier' hits all the right notes"

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Spirited in acting and breathtaking in choreography, 'Steel Pier' hits all the right notes

Mark Tedeschi

Steel Pier, book by David Thompson, music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb. Conceived by Scott Ellis, Susan Stroman, and David Thompson. Directed and choreographed by David Wanstreet. Starring Brendon Stimson, Nadine Malouf, Kelsey Stalter, Brody Hessin, Elena Shapiro, Matthew Tolstoy, Lauren Nolan, Benjamin Michael, Katja Zarolinski, and Jared M. Poulin. With musical director Nathan Hurwitz, scenic designer Robert John Andrusko, costume designer Meggan Camp Kulczynski, lighting designer Alok Wadhwani, sound designer Jonathan R. Herter, and stage manager Dimitre Guenov.

The dance marathon - alongside bob cuts, flagpole sitting, and Prohibition - is surely one of the weirdest American phenomena to come out of the 1920s. Dance marathons started out as spirited (if grueling) celebrations of whimsy and competition, but possibly fueled by the yearning desperation of the Depression era, they devolved into spectacle-driven cash cows generally hosted by greedy exploiters. As such, an early-1930s dance marathon is an excellent setting for musical theatre.

Steel Pier, the new musical at Syracuse Stage put on by SU Drama, takes place in 1933 at the famed amusement pier in Atlantic City. The eleven-Tonys-nominated show, which ran for just a few months on Broadway in 1997, clocks in at around three hours - but with its impressive production design, spirited acting, and breathtaking choreography, even the slothlike movement of latter-hour marathoners feels rousing.

The show opens on go-getter stunt pilot Bill Kelly (Brendon Stimson) disoriented and clutching a ticket, declaring, "I understand - I've got three weeks!" He hears floor judge Mr. Walker (Justin Nichols) announcing the event and signs himself up. Along the way, he runs into (and is later paired as dance partners with) Rita Racine (Nadine Malouf), a popular performer who relates her all but intolerable weariness toward dance marathon participation. She's secretly married to the glossy Mick Hamilton (Benjamin Michael), the marathon's promoter and charming master of ceremonies - while under the skin, he's a sleazy, menacing control freak.

The rest of the cast is enormous yet delightfully varied. Some memorable couples: Shelby Stevens (Kelsey Stalter), a lovably lascivious Mae West-type with harmonicist Luke Adams (Dominique Stasiulis, a skilled harp player); Buddy Becker (Brody Hessin), a hyper vaudevillian with his optimistic sister Bette (Elena Shapiro); Happy and Precious McGuire (Matthew Tolstoy and Lauren Nolan), naive Utah newlyweds.

Over 21 days, the couples endure the strict rules of competition (which are printed in the program and posted near the stage); most importantly, they must dance for a full 45 minutes with only a 15-minute break every hour. To raise the stakes, officials can institute mandatory sprints to weed out the weak, and throughout the show, the number of couples gradually dwindles.

We soon learn that Bill has been in love with Rita since he first saw her perform at an airshow. He's determined to redeem a raffle ticket he won promising a dance - a "real" dance - with her.

With such a large cast navigating the stage in almost constant pandemoniac movements, director/choreographer David Wanstreet proves his dexterity. Foxtrots, waltzes, polkas, and swing dances punctuate and augment the solid performances, especially from the leads. Michael's aggression is scary and Stimson's earnestness genuine; but the show belongs to Malouf. She transplants to the audience Rita's complex yet sympathetic emotional struggle through committed delivery of song, dance, and dialogue.

Steel Pier's choreography and music cover a wide breadth of buoyant, of-the-era styles. "Everybody Dance" kicks off the Steel Pier marathon with jaunty exuberance. "A Powerful Thing," "Everybody's Girl," "Running in Place," and "First You Dream" are a few more catchy numbers, and Nolan's undeniable, high-soprano vocal talent is a pleasant surprise as she leads the song, "Two Little Words."

The Nathan Hurwitz-led band sits silhouetted behind a sheer starry backdrop, courtesy of scenic designer Robert John Andrusko. The design, based on actual elements of the Atlantic City pier, contains a number of clever set pieces, from a propeller-complete airplane with platformed wings for dancers to a simple rooftop spire with "windows" overlooking the marathon goings-on.

Meggan Camp Kulczynski's costumes and Alok Wadhwani's lighting mirror each other; deep reds, bright oranges and razzle-dazzle purples dominate the show, often giving the action a welcome ebullience.

Mick's man-behind-the-curtain command of the Steel Pier marathon's publicized drama reflects the real sensationalization showcased in 1930s dance marathon events. Schadenfreude is all well and good, but a behind-the-scenes story seems even more compelling than the actual event as it was outwardly misrepresented. And until someone makes a musical exposing the abhorrent underbelly of flagpole sitting, Steel Pier shall keep us entertained.

Ensemble in the SU Drama production of ‘Steel Pier.’ (Photo by Michael Davis)