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The ICT launches its 2014 season with a treat: A Cole Porter soufflé. You can hardly go wrong with a production founded on music by a hall of famer in the Great American Songbook. Just put a CD player (or MP3 player, if that’s your thing) on an empty stage, press play, and Porter’s music is enough by itself to keep an audience entertained.
In Let’s Misbehave, the ICT thankfully goes beyond a recording with a spirited production that weaves a romantic comedy around 30 of Porter’s most popular songs (and a few lesser known ditties). Events takes place on a marvelously designed stage infused with jazzy, art deco flourishes, and involves three desperately single friends – two women and a man – who make a vow to find true love. Naturally, a complication arises, but nothing that rousing renditions of De-Lovely, I’m Throwing a Ball Tonight, and At Long Last Love don’t ultimately smooth over. Though not substantive enough to hold its own without the music, the book by Karin Bowersock nevertheless cleverly amalgamates songs so that each feels perfectly appropriate in expressing the characters’ thoughts and feelings.
It’s all very light and fluffy (it’s de-lovely!) – yet another respite from the pop-culture obsession with grit and grime. Music is provided by a single pianist, Brian Baker, who accompanies the actors on-stage and, on occasion, participates in a gag. His performance is agile and brisk, but not always well-matched by the vocalists. Lindsey Allen and Marc Ginsburg are fine singers with voices able to accommodate the bell-bright requests of Porter’s music, but Jennifer Shelton’s vocal style overdoes the vibrato and, on a few occasions, comes across as overwrought. Uneven vocals aside, there’s no denying the leads’ zesty chemistry, rooted in a real-life camaradie that makes palpable both the comedic banter and dramatic tension between characters.
And so begins a season the ICT bills as a year of “Uniquely American Stories,” a theme that will be carried through in productions highlighting experiences from diverse American regions and time periods. There’s much to look forward to, from the challenges faced by African-American pioneers after the Civil War to an intergenerational study of Judge Francis Biddle and his secretary Sarah, capped off by the story of a woman who didn’t let her utter lack of singing ability stop her from pursuing her dream. Let’s Misbehave is a sparkling start, whetting the appetite for the productions to come.
Let’s Misbehave. Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter. Book by Karin Bowersock. Musical Arrangements by Patrick Young. Directed and Choreographed by Todd Nielsen. On stage at the International City Theatre in Long Beach until Feb 16. For ticket information and showtimes, visit www.internationalcitytheatre.org or call 562.536.4610.
Frédérik Sisa is the Page's Assistant Editor and Resident Art Critic. He is also a tweeting luddite and occasional blogger, and can be reached at fsisa@thefrontpageonline.com.
