WPCNR Under the Footlights.  Review By John F. Bailey. September 16, 2005: Tie up your ascots, shoot your cuffs, put on your spats and let the delightfully zany and flirty  “Gentleman’s Blonde,” Brandi Wooten as the legendary Lorelei Lee (that made Carol Channing and Marilyn Monroe stars) and the earthy ethereal  Pamela Jordan as her foil, Dorothy Shaw take you back to the world of the screwball musical in Westchester Broadway Theatre’s revival of  Gentleman Prefer Blondes, debuting at the WBT this week.

Brandi Wooten as the legend, Lorelei Lee, singing Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend at Westchester Broadway Theatre. Photo, Courtesy Westchester Broadway Theatre, Photo Credit -- John Vecchiola

WBT Creates a Swimming Pool on the Ile de France. Pamela Jordan as Dorothy Shaw with the U.S. Olympic Team. Photo, Courtesy, WBT by John Vecchiola

GPB won over the discriminating theatre goers Thursday with showstopper after showstopper, drawing bravos and whoops from the opener when Ms Jordan slinked and shimmied into High Time with the energetic ship’s chorus on the Ile de France to start the legendary show with her show-stealing companion, the gamin blonde bombshellette, Brandi Wooten taking over in the very next number

Ms. Wooten turns up the glitter another dazzling notch next with Bye,Bye Baby and holds serve throughout the show. Her leading man, Richard Roland, as Gus Esmond, the button king, in his limited role is solidly cast and he and Ms. Wooten bubble, when he is with her in a most believable way. (At last chemistry in musical casting, what a concept!)

Ms. Jordan and Ms. Wooten as Ziegfeld  chorus girls shuffle off to Europe forming perhaps the first “Buddy Girl” combination very believably, with Wooten as the rich husband seeker, and Ms. Jordan the more practical vamp for vamp’s sake.

They act like friends, they care for each other and make this old creeky book still work through a series of preposterous situations set shipboard and in Paris with songs by the legends Jule Styne and Leo Robin.

Ms. Wooten plays Lorelei with the Marilyn Monroeisms, breathy Carol Channing coyness in the part, but with a high pitched voice that delivers kewpie doll Betty Boop cuteness all her own taking the edge off her determination to judge a man by his wallet. (But is there any other way to judge him? Ahhh a concept for the ages)

Ms. Wooten plays her comic bits well, especially when she is attempting to buy a tiara. Her staggering around the stage under the weight of the tiara is a very funny bit with a lot of Carole Lombard/ Imogene Coca in it. She’s a belter, a trooper, an unabashed muggerette and the audience loves her, wearing eyepopping outfit after outfit. Her costumes by Gail Baldoni are just sensationally elegant on her and Ms. Jordan is equally ingratiating to the senses.

Pamela Jordan as Dorothy, with Joseph Mahowald as the bashful millionaire. Photo, Courtesy WBT, Photo by John Vecchiola.

Ms. Wooten and Ms. Jordan are aided by believable leads with chemistry. Joseph Mahowald’s solid baritone (John Raitt quality)  wows Ms. Jordan pleasing the audience with Just a Kiss Apart. At The Ritz in Paris (the show takes you to all the glamour places: Chili, Paris, New York), the hardboiled redhead and the handsome leading man duet in a most sexy and pleasing way on You Say You Care. Ms. Jordan is a singer who acts well, too her being torn about her love for this millionaire guy is played just right, even the crying works with her.

Ms. Jordan has her moment in the spotlight, stating her philosophy on  I love What I’m Doing, cavorting with an appealing chorus of muscular young men on the promenade deck. The audience really loved this one.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is  colorful! My show companion noted that the 1953 movie reveled in colors in the original Technicolor print, and in this show, color and lighting are as much the actors as the performers.

Moments to watch for: The great spoof on health crazes sung by Steve Asciolla as the zipper king, Gage, who brings natural laughs as he sings “I’m Atingle, I’m Aglow.” This made me really laugh. Watching the zipper king fitness buff are Brandi Wooten as Lorelei Lee,  Judith Moore as Ella Spoffard, and Pamela Jordan as Dorothy. Photo, Courtesy WBT, Photo by John Vecchiolla

Bob Freschi, playing Sir Francis, the rich old fellow bankrolling Lorelei so she can purchase a Tiara, duets with Ms. Wooten on  It’s Delightful Down in Chili, in a fantastic production number complete with baja marimba boys, a samba beat, and all the glamour of a Bing Crosby/Bob Hope road movie set.

I also commend the nostalgic ode to New York, Homesick, as well as the button commercial jingle Lorelei sings in Act II that convinces Gus Esmond’s father she is good enough for his son.

The hardworking  chorus emsemble have been given very creative choreography by Darren Lee without a lot of repetitive bits. Their costumes, from tuxedos, to gaucho outfits, to torso tossing 20s bathing suits, to their abilities to become French waiters and detectives, to their delightful task of  tossing Ms. Wooten and Ms. Jordan about with firm hands, while enjoying their work make them one of the best supporting group of young men we’ve seen at WBT this year. They are: Will Armstrong, Don Daniels, Derek M. Gats, Erik Hayden, Nick Locilento, Tim McGarrigal, Bobby Testa, David Sattler, Brian Spitulnik, Leonard E. Sullivan, Brian Swasey, David F. M. Vaughn.

The comic work of  Judith Moore as Mrs. Spofford is to be commended, getting the laughs from the bad jokes from getting a bob to getting tipsy on champagne.

This is a very clean show, ladies and gentleman. Safe for the kids and entertaining for Mr. and Mrs. and Ms. White Plains young and old. You find yourself swaying to the music.

Keyboard Kings and Queen. The ensemble that dazzled the audience with their virtuoso accompanyment. Photo, WPCNR StageCam.

And speaking of the music, the overture and music is rendered by four pianists and a percussionist,  Ken Lundie, Michael Horsely, Angela Jamison and Billy McDaniels with Ken Ross on the skins. Their riffs bumping each other off an an old piano seat to open the show amuse the audience and get this lark of a voyage in theatre on the high seas and turn the overture into something really special. These keyboardists pound out the accompaniment. You see them on stage playing throughout the show and I liked the effect.

The First Act runs a little long, and the jokes are old but still gather the laughs, especially when Ms Wooten delivers lines like, “a man who is a millionaire can be endured.”

This creaky old Broadway classic wears well with an energetic well-cast production, imaginatively cast and cleverly staged. Creating a 1920s steamroom in theatre in the round in a believable way is something to see.

Tonight’s show drew a 1 minute and 25 second ovation at the close. The two leading ladies blow kisses to the audience, and throw diamonds. Photo, WPCNR StageCam.

The Show captures some great fixtures of the 1920s era, the radio newscast, the glamour of transoceanic travel, recreating the Ile De France steamer on WBT’s ubiquitous stage that is put to ingenious uses by Set Designers George Puello and Steve Loftus. You’ll be impressed with the swimming pool, the creation of the Ritz Hotel Rooms, and if the Trump Tower condos in White Plains duplicate the zebra rugs and styles you see on stage in this show, I’ll buy one.

This is the show where men are always dressed; the women always made up, and money is never a problem. It is the never never land of the 1920s-30s rich of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby and Astaire, where “Chile,” Paris, or the Astor was a world all wanted to enjoy. GPB creates that once and distant time when you spoke into candlestick telephones, received transatlantic cables, and put on the Ritz. All Ashore Who’s Going Ashore!

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes plays through November 20 at the Westcheser Broadway Theatre in Elmfords. Tickets include a delicious gourmet meal stageside with free parking.  For information contact (914) 592-2222.