To borrow from the lyrics of one of its ditties, “Nice Work If You Can Get It,” which opened Friday at
Diamond Head Theatre, is
a show that’s s’wonderful, s’marvelous, s’awful nice.
“Nice Work,” starring Kelli O’Hara and Matthew Broderick, was a 2012 Broadway hit, thanks to
its Great American Songbook riches of George and Ira Gershwin tunes, including the title song, “Fascinating Rhythm,” “Someone
to Watch Over Me,” “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off,” “But Not for Me” and “S’wonderful.”
Joe DiPietro created
the book, adapted from
“O Kay!,” a 1926 musical by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse, and employed the Gershwin catalogue of hits to punctuate his giddy plot.
Its key challenge is to win and woo the audience with its silly song about Jimmy Winter (Drew Niles), a playboy on the verge of his fourth marriage to Eileen Evergreen (played by Lea Woods Almanza), a dancer of questionable skills. Throw in a Prohibition ploy when a conniving bootlegger, Billie Bendix (Ahnya Chang), hides a stash of
liquor in the cellar of Jimmy’s Long Island manse.
This stew of shenanigans and deception is often
irreverent but nonetheless irresistible, blessed with a cavalcade of dance numbers from the Jazz Age
fortified by those Gershwin gems.
DHT has assembled one of its best ensembles ever, comprising eight women and eight men who uncork a series of joyous dance numbers that capture the era of flappers and tappers. The first trick, during the opening number, earned hearty applause as leading man Niles became a human log rolling atop male
dancers on the floor.
Niles, last seen as the charismatic Che in “Evita,” is a triple threat: a charming crooner, a nimble dancer and a genuine team player equally at home as the
central star and as an ensemble trouper who glides over the chorus of gents with unexpected joy.
The plot includes gender reversal, since Billie, a tomboyish rifle-toting sort,
aggressively pursues Jimmy. We know, of course, that she will be the Jill to his Jack by the final curtain.
Along the way, there are moments of charm and delight. Almanza has a splendid scene singing in her bathtub, where the Bubble Girls and Boys (aka Chorus Girls and Vice Squad) appear in a modest version
of a Ziegfeld spectacle.
Stacy Pulmano, as the Duchess Estonia Dulworth, is an anti-rum prohibitionist who literally soars in the air, dangling and swinging from a chandelier while tipsy. Matthew Pedersen and Kyle Mcnamara (as Cookie McGee and Duke Mahoney, respectively) are the fake butler and chef caught up in the mayhem.
Even Chang has a keen scene, with the help of a hot-pink feather boa.
Late in the show, Lisa Konove shows up as Millicent Winter, mother of the groom, who sorts out the story lines, bringing logic
to the lunacy and clarifying those fuzzy plot machinations. It’s all dialogue,
no singing, but wholly
delightful.
Director Malindi Fickle gets to the heart of the
Gershwin catalogue and has inspired her cast to deliver passionate vocals and dances. Caryn Yee and Lisa Kimsey, co-choreographers, elicit dedicated and exuberant maneuvers from the dancers, while Ike Webster makes his eight-piece
orchestra sound like a
jazz symphony.
And there’s nice work from the backstage artisans: Willie Sabel’s sets are mood-setting and attractive, whether a speakeasy or a bathroom. Karen G. Wolfe’s bright, fashionable costumes capture the spirit of the era, and hair and makeup by Linda Lockwood reflect the styles of the Roaring ’20s. Stephen Clear’s lighting enhances the rainbow hues on stage, and Kerri Yoneda’s sound
is crisp and clear.