An American in Paris

A friend of mine has season tickets at the Pantages, Incredible  seats around the fourth row and she unexpectedly had an extra seat to Saturday's performance.    It was a win-win, an evening of playing catch-up with my friend AND the treat of an excellent musical.

Gershwin and ballet?   As the song goes, "Who could ask for anything more?"  The performance started late,  Apparently something had happened to the principal dancer and they had to get the understudy out there.  Barton Cowpethwaite did an excellent job in "Jerry" the Gene Kelly role.  He is a marvelous dancer.  His singing was ok- he was a bit flat sometimes to my ear, but I'm going to chalk that up to what must have been a huge case of nerves. The house was packed and I don't think he was really ready to go out there. He gave "Jerry" an earnest vulnerability. At the close of the performance, the actress who played "Lise" the Leslie Caron  part, gave him a HUGE bouquet of flowers and he was roundly applauded by the cast and the audience, which gave them all a standing ovation. He saved the night.

The play itself was wonderful.  Costuming was gorgeous, and the minimalist staging, with tables, chairs and small rolling partitions being seamlessly rolled into place by the cast created a terrific visual effect. There was not a lot of use of video, but  the screen provided a backdrop that enhanced rather than detracted from the on stage action.  Some of the onstage costume changes were a delightful surprise.  I LOVED the big nightclub dance number toward the end of the second act,  Watching the dances seem to float in both the tap numbers and the gorgeous ballet that finished the play reminded me of what athletes dancers really are.  It got me thinking about how male dancers were made fun of as being "poofy" and how many football players later discovered that they could up THEIR game by taking ballet lessons ( Jerry Rice for one)

All in all, a great production. I have to see the film again.I think I will find it a bit dated but  I love Gene Kelly. I'm glad I was familiar with the music, which was pure delight.   A lot of the themes that were snuck in were sly reference to modern times.  The dancing made me think of my Dad, a man who loved dancing. He would have enjoyed this one.