REVIEW: Welk's 'All Night Strut' has energy to spare but needs more highlights

| Friday, April 18, 2008 9:10 AM PDT ∞

CHARLENE BALDRIDGE
For the North County Times

Taking music already written and building a musical entertainment around it is nothing new. The popular form, which varies from show to show, is known as musical revue.

Most successfully, choreographer/director Twyla Tharp built a dance-heavy piece around Billy Joel's music in 2002's "Movin' Out," letting the lyrics create a story of sorts. She tried again, less successfully, with the music of Bob Dylan. That show, titled "The Times They Are a-Changin'," premiered at the Old Globe in 2006 and moved to Broadway, where the critics thrashed it.

Shows built around the Harlem renaissance, with songs made famous by specific performers and music by the likes of Fats Waller and Duke Ellington abound; for instance, the musical "It Ain't Nothing but the Blues" played at San Diego Repertory on its way to Broadway. Shows about legendary singers Patsy Cline, Frank Sinatra and Buddy Holly and have been seen at the Welk Resort Theatre in recent years.

Some revues are strung together with bits of dialogue, a retelling of history or biography, and others are straight revues, dependent upon song lyrics, music, a smattering of choreography and extraordinary performers to please theatergoers.

Playing through May 18 at the Welk Resorts Theatre, the revue "The All Night Strut!" is choreographer/director Fran Charnas' 1979 contribution to the latter genre. An homage to music from the 1920s-1940s, it is directed and choreographed by Lance Roberts and features a quartet of singer/dancers in 28 musical numbers including Cab Calloway's "Minnie the Moocher," George and Ira Gershwin's "Fascinating Rhythm" and Fats Waller's "Ain't Misbehavin'." World War II songs include "White Cliffs of Dover," "Coming In on a Wing and a Prayer," and "I'll Be Seeing You."

Accompanied by a crackerjack instrumental group comprising Justin Gray on piano, Ted Hughart on Bass, Mike Masessa on drums and Jack Houghton on trumpet, the singers ---- Christopher Carothers, Parnell Damone, Cassandra Murphy and Natalie Wachen ---- face exhaustion because of the fact that they are onstage continuously, dancing, singing or at the very least doo-wopping during someone else's eight-bar solo.

Most of the arrangements are four-part harmony, allowing few opportunities for anyone to shine, let alone sing a whole song alone. No one, not even the audience, has a chance to rest. Sadly, there are no "wow" moments, no electrifying performances, and little chemistry among the players.

Nonetheless, "The All Night Strut!" may provide a great deal of enjoyment to those who love the music from this era and those who delight in musical revues without dialogue (no thinking required; just slip into neutral, sit back and enjoy). The plus column also includes excellent close harmony, a few brief and excellently done solo lines, and Ryan Seybert's glitzy set design.

Charlene Baldridge is a freelance journalist, poet, and critic, member of San Diego Theatre Critics Circle, and writes locally for La Jolla Village News, Downtown News and Performances Magazine.

"All Night Strut"

When: 1:45 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays; 8 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays; through May 18

Where: Welk Resort Theatre, Lawrence Welk Resort, 8860 Lawrence Welk Drive, Escondido

Tickets: $58-$63, includes buffet lunch or dinner; $44-$47, show only

Phone: (760) 749-3448

Web: www.welktheatre.com

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