Dames at Sea

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 2/18/07 at 11:23am

I'm in love with this score. How about a revival or and Encores production?

[theaterdude87]

Posted: 2/18/07 at 11:46am

My college may be doing it next year. I am not sure how I feel about that.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 2/18/07 at 11:49am

It originated Off-Broadway -- never played Broadway, so it wouldn't really qualify as a revival, though most would (ala LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS).

City Centers Encore! Series only mounts concert stagings of Broadway shows. Again...DAMES AT SEA was an Off-Broadway production.


Here's Bernadette Peters in the original Off-Broadway production:

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 2/18/07 at 11:55am

Well, Encores seems to be moving in a new direction, so I wouldn't count it out.

[Joelbeans]

Posted: 2/18/07 at 11:58am

It is a very cute show. I did it in college and it's sort of 42nd Street meets Anything Goes....

[Piercemn]

Posted: 2/18/07 at 12:00pm

I appreciate this reminder. I'm planning on coming to NYC May 3-6 to see two operas at the Met, and I think I'll look for this with Ann Margret at the Museum of TV and Radio. Also going to try and see the original Once Upon a Mattress, since my boyfriend just directed a delightful production in Willmar, MN.

[folkyboy]

Posted: 2/18/07 at 12:51pm

this show is cute :) though it took a bit to grow on me

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 2/18/07 at 1:35pm

I was just gonna mention that the show has been revived off-Broadway and Chenoweth played Bernadette Peters' role (which is funny since Brantley wrote something like "watching Kristin Chenoweth one knows what it must've been seeing a young Bernadette Peters in Dames at Sea," for his review of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown).
I love this cast recording, it's such a spoof of the backstage musical of the 30s; I'm currently taking a history of film class and we studied the backstage musical and when I went back to the Dame at Sea cast recording I couldn't stop laughing. It's also great to listen to Bernadette Peters stealing the show though I really like Tamara Long (her "Good Times Are Here to Stay" is one of my favorite songs in the recording).

[Piercemn]

Posted: 2/18/07 at 1:41pm

I had forgotten that I saw this done with an all-male cast, three of them in drag, and it was a total delight. It works as a drag show, too.

[DryMartini]

Posted: 2/18/07 at 2:14pm

I'd love to see Charles Busch play the older female part...hilarious.

[mentaltenant]

Posted: 2/20/07 at 8:21pm

they did a tv version of this show with Ann-Margret (as Ruby), Anne Meara, and Ann Miller that was pretty fun.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0476980/

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 2/20/07 at 9:41pm

DryMartini-
If Busch could sing, he probably would.

[gustof777]

Posted: 2/20/07 at 9:44pm

I hate this peice of sh*t show. We did it in high school and it was the most miserable thing I've ever done. Campy to the point of vomit!

[ashleybrownfan]

Posted: 2/21/07 at 9:38pm

I really like the show it was adodorable

[Danielm]

Posted: 2/22/07 at 1:43pm

I really like this show too. I think a Broadway revival would be a bad idea. I don't think it plays well in large theatres. It's a small cast and the few times I've seen it turned into a big show I think the spectacle killed it. It works best in small theatres with clever, but small sets and really talented performers.

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 6:29am

There are a couple of clips from the Ann-Margret tv version on yt.

[philcrosby]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 9:07am

It's a delightful show ... originally produced just at the time that people were re-discovering the great Busby Berkeley films in late-night screenings across the country (pre-home video, for you young'uns). The parody of that genre is spot-on.

It really does work best in a small space, with imaginative direction.

[WestVillage]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 10:28am

I saw Bernadette in Dames at Sea, and I loved it. What a fun show, and BP was just delightful. I agree with other posters ... it is too small and intimate a show for a huge Broadway theatre. I would love to see a revival, but at the Minetta Lane, Lucille Lortel or one of the theatres in New World Stages.

[SamIAm]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 12:40pm

I did Dames at Sea in an East Coast touring company when I was younger. It was a fun and wonderful experience. Love the show, though most would probably consider it corny and old-fashioned today.

[Jon]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 3:01pm

The problem is that many audience members don't "get it". They say things like "Why wasn't there a chorus?", "This is like a cheap rip-off of 42nd Street" and thing like that.

At the time Dames at Sea was first produced, no one was doing big, old-fashioned tapdance musical on Broadway. Since then, we've had the No, No Nanette revival, My One and Only, the Anything Goes revival, 42nd Street (twice), Crazy for You, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Never Gonna Dance, etc. etc. etc. Why would anyone want a small cast, cheap parody of those shows?

[broadwayfan7]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 3:07pm

I like this show too!

[WestVillage]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 3:11pm

"Why would anyone want a small cast, cheap parody of those shows?"

Well, you could say the same thing about Forbidden Broadway, and even with different versions, it been running for years. Dames is a cute and well-done spoof of the old Ruby Keeler/Joan Blondell/Dick Powell movie musicals (which are the names of the characters in Dames ... Ruby, Joan, Dick). Besides, the shows you list all came AFTER Dames, so Dames is not a parody of THOSE shows.

[acrocksyo]

Posted: 2/14/08 at 12:33pm

Since BrodyFosse123 mentioned that Encores does off broadway how about http://www.playbill.com/news/article/115101.html. It seems like this would be a perfect show for that.