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MoreBy ROBERT BURMISTERI’ve never been much of a fan of camp stage productions. Usually the campy carryings-on get too inbred and have meaning and humor only for those participating in the performance. But I really do wonder if some well thought out camping might be a considerable asset to the Menlo Players Guild's presentation of No, No, Nanette,” currently running weekends at the Burgess Theater in Menlo Part.The text and lines of this 1924 Broadway musical are so hollow and so vapid, that to succeed in mounting the work straight” for the significantly more sophisticated and more socially disillusioned audiences of today, requires real dazzle on thepart of the cast. The kind of■PATRONESSPERFORMERPatty Swig, long involved in San Francisco'theater and arts ventures, will appear assongstress in the pionobar ofthe Press Club of San Francisco on Jan. 31 at 6 p.m. She will be accompanied on ♦he piano by Janet Wilson of Westlake.Dances of *l NeedsiCampdazzle sufficient for the job can be rightly expected only from seasoned professionals — professionals who are superior even among their own colleagues. Apparently, it. was that kind of glitterwhich made the 1971 Broad-.way revival of “No, No, Nanette” such a smashing success. But no amateur company in the world can berightly expected to fill all thehuge gaps in the Otto Bar-, bach and Prank Mandel text. And under such oppressive odds, a “camp” approach might be worth a try.Of the many songs that Vincent Youmans composed for the play, two have become staples of the poo literature; Tea for Two and “I Want to Be Happy.” Obviously, Youmans sensed that he had a hit on his hands with I Want to Be Happy,” because he returned to it over and over again in the last two acts of the score. The song even ends up motivating the plot instead of the customary practice of tfie plot motivating the music. The fact in itself gives an indication of how desperately the writers groped to fabricate a plot.Within the cast of 10 principals, one actress stands out. Becky Hauser has a genuine feel for what she’s all about on stage and she is very good in the part of the floozy, Flora Latham. She uses her face expressively, a thing which almost no one else in the cast manages, and she throws herself sufficiently into her part to ferret some real humor out of her situation and her lines.Joan Gray, as the maid Pauline, brings off an excellent dance routine in the last act, but the cliche lines theplaywrights give her in thefirst act are impossible for anyone to do much with. Scott Phillips, Paula Martin, and Keyle Taylor have some humorous moments in their parts. For the others, they should make an effort to learn their lines more solidly and to smile periodically while they’re on the stage. Even feigned happiness ban have a nice way of transmit-ting itself out into the house.
Newspaper Details
San Mateo Times
San Mateo, California, US
Tue, Jan 21, 1975
Page 23
Full Page
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Anonymous
CA, USA 25 Oct 2020
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