SENIOR RUSH
No, despite the title, Gotta Dance, a world premiere at Chicago’s Bank of America Theatre, is no musical homage to Gene Kelly or MGM’s musicals. It’s a true-life, feel-good salute to sexagenarian (and older) hoofers who deserve—and get—a second chance to literally kick their heels and make a splash. Based on the real-life case of a 2007 “dance squad” of senior citizens who performed at half-time before 20,000 fans at a New Jersey Cougars’ basketball game, this Broadway-bound musical salutes resilient underdogs who, still feeling much to prove, refuse to let old age cramp their style or limit their horizons.
Very much (perhaps too much) in the spirit of such heartwarming comeback / payback shows as Brassed Off, Ballroom, Stepping Out, The Last Ship, Calendar Girls and Billy Elliott, this new musical is the work of multiple Tony and Oscar winners–with a book by Chad Beguelin and Bob Martin and 14 original songs by Matthew Sklar and Nell Benjamin (with additional music by the late Marvin Hamlisch). Choreographer/director Jerry Mitchell’s romp may seem formulaic and derivative, but it borrows from the best (especially The Full Monty) and its fertile fusion of A Chorus Line and Cocoon overcomes any handicapping déjà vu. The not so secret ingredient here is a relentless charm that cumulatively overwhelms curmudgeonly cynicism and intrusive sophistication. Best of all, Gotta Dance manages to both gently mock and fully celebrate their outsized aspirations. These “senior moments” really matter.
The premise here is that ten dancers, all plus-60, get less than three weeks to pull their fractious and temperamental acts together. (Anticipating the worst, they fearfully wonder “Who Wants To See That?”) Adding to the challenges of collaboration among souls stubbornly set in their ways is the seemingly perverse requirement that their dance routine won’t be, as they prefer, fox trot, tap, salsa or swing. No, it’s hip hop. Besides the incongruity of age, this extreme stretch increases the “fish out of water” amusement factor. But the show never condescends to its galloping geezers or to the young coaches who learn as much from them as they can ever share.
Thanks to supple songs, terrific dance routines, some overly generous exposition, and cunning performances by some big names, we really get to know and love the members of “Nifty Shades of Gray” (as they’re patronizingly called). Chicago legend André De Shields is all foxy warmth as a cool old-school elder whose throwback anthem “Prince of Swing” brings down the house. He’s drawn to his total opposite–mousy, hip hop-loving Dorothy (Georgia Engel, still Betty Boop after all these years) who’s got a split personality–and a wonderful double take.
The other notable here is still-sultry Stefanie Powers, who will make her Broadway debut as the justifiably narcissistic lead dancer Joanne. Still basking in her glory days as Miss Subways 1962 and eager to get back at the rat who divorced her, entitled 73-year-old Joanne means to show she’s kept, if not increased, her star-quality charisma. So she’s miffed at the clumsy moves of Mae (Lori Tan Chinn), a bubbly but off-beat dancer married to a man with Alzheimer’s; “The Waters Rise” is her tender tribute to his diminishing returns. But intriguing Joanne’s subversive plan to squeeze this overly enthusiastic klutzball out of the show is happily thwarted.
Among the other sharply-etched members of the “Nu Hip Crew” (as they’re finally called), are team members Bea (well-known Lillias White), wryly contending with and confiding in her “princess” daughter Kendra (Joanna A. Jones) who has poor taste in men (Colby Lewis); the nearly blind and continually clueless Muriel (Kaye Walbye); makeup artist Fran (Lenora Nemetz); and Latina spitfire Camilla (Nancy Tricotin) who flings herself into “Como No?,” a fiery duet with her much younger stud lover (Alexander Aguilar).
In contrast to these former fogies are the younger “authority figures” meant to mold the geriatric hopefuls. Peppy Tara (Haven Burton), still irate at being kicked out of the Cougarettes when she turned all of 27, becomes the team’s biggest supporter. So, of course, she clashes with corporate control-freak Alison (Traci Jai Edwards), who wants to dumb down the dancers to not embarrass the NBA brand.
Earning its name, Gotta Dance works best as a splendid showcase for a richly mixed crew. A populist pleaser with almost too much heart to process, it’s a “comfort musical” for any hard times. Considering so many compelling detailed differences among the dancers, the ultimate uniformity of their act-ending hip hop numbers (“Swagger” and “Get Up”) is all but awesome. The serviceable score serves the story well enough, but the main miracle is the ensemble, themselves a true team, ripe or ready. The unlikely amalgam of senior strivers and a hip hop backdrop makes strange sense. As the show argues, old folks who don’t want to go gentle into that good night have much in common with a pop genre that serves the dreams of overlooked aspirants. Attention must be paid.
photos by Matthew Murphy
Gotta Dance
Bank of America Theatre, 18 West Monroe Street
Tues-Fri at 7:30; Sat at 8; Wed, Sat, & Sun at 2
ends on January 17. 2016
for tickets, call (800) 775-2000 or visit Broadway in Chicago
opens on Broadway Fall 2016; for more info, visit Gotta Dance
for more info on Chicago Theater, visit Theatre in Chicago
