DAMES AT SEA is a tap-happy celebration of the golden era of movie musicals with a heart as big as the ocean! Directed and choreographed by the three-time Tony Award-nominated choreographer Randy Skinner (42nd Street, Irving Berlin's White Christmas), this gem of a show has been reimagined for the bright lights of Broadway and taken to glamorous and spectacular new heights! Featuring rollicking tap dancing, love at first sight, joyful music and a boatload of laughs, this glittering musical extravaganza has everything you need for an unforgettable night at the theatre.
'Dames at Sea' is a mid-1960s musical trifle that works overtime to be cheeky good fun. Thanks to a cast with twinkle-toes and polished pipes, it succeeds -- for a while. Before long, though, monotony sets in and won't go away. Even top-notch tap-dancing can get repetitive...Now on Broadway for the first time, in this revival choreographed and directed by Randy Skinner, the cast is still small but the production values are beefed up. In some ways, this 'Dames at Sea' mirrors what it's lampooning, so it's neither fish nor fowl. Put another way, 'Dames at Sea' doesn't make a big splash or sink. It treads water.
Boiled down to basic ingredients, the most cheerful tuners often share the same quirky, classic DNA: tap-dancing showstoppers, Broadway chorus lines, and for an inexplicable reason, boats. All are on display in Dames at Sea...but optimism alone can't keep a one-note ship afloat for too long...Under Skinner's uneven direction, the production waffles between a nicely prepared inside joke and the clunky result of its own satire. He vacillates between parody and earnestness, with the former offering genuine moments of humor for the very precise breed of fan who will appreciate them and the latter landing with something of a confusing, elongated thud...Fortunately, the piece's performers are perfectly cast to deliver the very long joke...As this very solid production stands, it's not particularly nautical and not particularly naughty, either. B-
1968 | Off-Broadway |
Original Off-Broadway Production Off-Broadway |
1969 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
1969 | West End |
London Production West End |
1970 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway Revival Off-Broadway |
1970 | Regional (US) |
Regional Revival Regional (US) |
1973 | Milburn, NJ (Regional) |
Paper Mill Production Milburn, NJ (Regional) |
1985 | Regional (US) |
Regional Revival Regional (US) |
1985 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway Revival Off-Broadway |
1996 | West End |
London Revival West End |
2004 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway Revival Off-Broadway |
2015 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2016 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Choreography | Randy Skinner |
2016 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical | Dames at Sea |
2016 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Choreography | Randy Skinner |
2016 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Musical (Broadway or off-Broadway) | Dames at Sea |
2016 | Tony Awards | Best Choreography | Randy Skinner |
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