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The script is updated and the cast sparkles in this charmingly resurrected tale.
By BARBARA L. FREDRICKSEN
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 21, 2001
More than a year ago when the play reading committee at Richey Suncoast Theatre chose the political comedy Call Me Madam as the January-February musical, the members had no idea who the presidential nominees were going to be, much less the eventual winner.
The musical, based on the career of 1948 Democratic fundraising party-giver Perle Mesta and her chats with then-president Harry Truman, is politically impartial, but the script's celebrity references are definitely dated and its dialogue geared toward a Democrat in the White House.
To address this for the version running through Feb. 4 at Richey Suncoast, director Bruce Blaine took a big dollop of poetic license and changed a lot of the dialogue and song lyrics to match current events.
Instead of the Ms. Mesta character, Ambassador Sally Adams (Anne Lakey), chatting with Truman, for example, Blaine has her talking with George W. Bush (at one point even saying, "Gee, W."). Instead of quips about Winston Churchill, Sally makes a gentle dig at Tipper Gore. Instead of singing They Like Ike, Blaine's trio sings They Like Gore.
Though not perfection, the musical works nicely, mainly because of strong and engaging performances by Ms. Lakey, who sparkles and shines as the bawdy, spunky, sometimes uncouth ambassador to the mythical country of Lichtenburg, and by Chris Strong as Cosmo Constantine, the charming prime minister-foreign affairs chief of that tiny nation.
Ms. Lakey has some trouble changing registers when she sings those big songs made famous by the inimitable Ethel Merman, but those little blips are forgotten when she flashes her cheery smile and struts around the stage singing The Hostess with the Mostes' on the Ball or Washington Square Dance. Ms. Lakey fairly glows with good humor and lights up the whole theater.
She's equally effective when she teams with Strong in the sweet melody, Marrying for Love, and with her aide Kenneth Gibson (Chadd Thomas) in the hum-along contrapuntal classic, You're Not Sick (You're Just in Love).
Ms. Lakey and Strong have that elusive quality of "chemistry," with the audience and with each other. Ms. Lakey's strongest suit is her exuberant, vivacious, effervescence; Strong's is his gentle courtliness.
Thomas' baritone-tenor is soft, but right on key, and with feeling, for his big number, another classic, It's a Lovely Day Today. His love interest, Princess Maria, is played with perhaps overly haughty distance, but with assurance by Julie Petrick.
Some of the rest of the supporting cast and those with small speaking parts could have used a few more rehearsals to smooth out their hesitant and sometimes stumbling delivery, but most acquitted themselves nicely. Lisa Ferguson's choreography is basic, but sometimes awkward; everyone in the cast doesn't have to be in every number. And the Washington square dance could be a diamond with its point toward us so performers could have their faces toward the audience instead of their backsides.
The uncredited set designer did a fine job providing detailed backdrops that suggest place and roll on and off smoothly, quickly and quietly.
Costumer Dick Poole's use of red, white and blue outfits for the partygoers is clever, though a few seem out of synch with the times. Ms. Lakey's lavish party dresses are becoming and lovely.
It was heartening to once again see a nearly full house for opening night at Richey Suncoast and, even better, that no one was seated after the curtain opened and no one left before the final bow, perhaps a "first" for Pasco County. Give this audience an A-plus in deportment.
WHAT: Call Me Madam
WHERE: Richey Suncoast Theatre, 3297 Grand Blvd., New Port Richey
WHEN: Weekends through Feb. 4. Performances are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. Sundays.
TICKETS: Adults $10, students $5. Box office is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and an hour before each show. Call (727) 842-6777.