“Who could ask for anything more?” is a famous line from “I Got Rhythm,” a classic tune by George and Ira Gershwin that’s included in the latest show at the Ogunquit Playhouse. It’s not a bad question to ask.
You’ve got two solid stars up front, dozens of attractive singers and dancers behind them, and a wealth of both clever and romantic Gershwin songs. And, as if that weren’t enough, the inimitable Sally Struthers comes onstage to fill two comedic roles that supply some of the best laughs in the show.
Chalk it up to a production still coming together, but “Crazy For You” showed a few seams in terms of pacing in its first performance after opening night. But the impeccably performed vintage music and the let’s-put-on-a-show spirit of the book by Ken Ludwig carried the 2½-hour show through for an entertaining afternoon at the venerable summer theater on the southern coast of Maine.
The dynamic Max Clayton sang and danced like a veteran performer who knows where the audience-pleasing theatrical goodies are hidden. His banker character Bobby soon became a faux showbiz master as he falls for a girl and decides to revive her father’s theater in Nevada rather than foreclose on the property.
Clayton’s tap talents are many and were all smoothly executed with whirling flourishes that truly dazzled. His voice sold such long-time Gershwin favorites as “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” and “Nice Work If You Can Get It,” the latter accompanied by an impressive chorus of lovely, talented female singer/dancers.
Taylor Aronson plays Bobby’s love interest Polly, adding her own very natural-sounding delivery to such classics as “Someone To Watch Over Me” and “But Not For Me.” Aronson also held her own in romantic song and dance duets with Clayton on such tunes as “Shall We Dance” and “Embraceable You.” Director Angelique Ilo’s take on the show’s original dance moves, choreographed by Susan Stroman, fit the pair well in both upfront showy and more elegantly flowing moments.
The 76-year-old Struthers again proved her brilliant comedic timing in scenes with Clayton and Jim Borstelmann, the latter as a companionable British twit. Her double takes and little exclamations were hilarious as were some timeless bits of physical comedy performed by others throughout the show.
Angie Schworer and Peter Kendall got hot and heavy on “Naughty Baby” while a Cowboy Trio and a group of layabout ex-miners spiced up several pieces. Alexandria Van Paris, Delaney Bailey, Jack Doyle and Tony Roach also stood out in secondary roles. All were backed by a jauntily swinging offstage band led by Ken Clifton while some occasional onstage percussion from the players, tapping feet and more, served to bring things forward.
The sets by Adam Koch and costumes by William Ivey Long mix old-style Broadway flash and rustic cowboy folksiness, placing the audience in a world closer to an earlier, 1930s incarnation (The Gershwin brothers’ “Girl Crazy”) on which this award-winning 1992 show was based.
Steve Feeney is a freelance writer who lives in Portland.
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