Reviewed by Tony Annicone
Greater Boston Stage Company travels back in time for their latest production, a world premiere of “Swan Lake in Blue.” Swan Lake originally premiered in 1877 and was written by Tchaikovsky. Its incredible choreography, beautiful music and compelling tale brings audiences back to see it year after year. Each production of Swan Lake reinvents itself from the classic take ala the Bolshoi Ballet. However, Greater Boston Stage Company takes us into a new “jazzed up” version with their production of “Swan Lake in Blue: A Jazz Ballet.” The work was created by Steve Bass, a Boston based composer and musician, and choreographed by GBSC’s Associate Artistic Director and multiple IRNE and Elliot Norton Award winner, Ilyse Robbins. The music for the show is all original by Bass. This version is set in 1940’s New York City with the main characters tied up with the mob. Odette is a burlesque dancer who dances nightly at the Swan Club where Broadway Producer Siegfried falls in love with her and tries to help her escape the clutches of Von Rothbart, a corrupt mob boss. Will the lovers escape the evil boss or will their love be unrequited? There is absolutely no dialogue in this show, so the dancing conveys what all the characters are feeling and doing with each other. It is nearly two hours of a 16 piece jazz big band with intricately choreographed tap, jazz and lyrical dancing by a group of 13 dancers that captivate you from start to finish.
The magnificent music that Bass has written for this show sounds like a mixture of Gershwin, Cole Porter and some of it sounds like “42nd Street”, “Singing in the Rain” and “An American in Paris” to mention a few. His 16 piece jazz band is phenomenal as are the various dance styles Robbins creates for the show including mind boggling tap dances that stop the show with the brilliant execution of all the cast members in perfect unison. She also creates burlesque numbers for Odette and the 2 Little Swans complete with feather fans and intricate movements. Other dances are the samba, rhumba and mambo. The love duet dance music between Siegfried and Odette sounds like “Begin the Beguine” and the combative tap dance between Siegfried and Von Rothbart is also executed perfectly.
Leading this marvelous show is Sara Combs as Odette. She captures your heart from her first appearance onstage when she is kidnap by the villainous, Von Rothbart. She later escapes his clutches to audition for Siegfried and returns to do her burlesque dance with the 2 little swans, (“Dance of the Swans”), meets the producer and falls in love with him, but the cad beats up Siegfried at the end of the first half. You have to come to the show to find out what happens in the second half. The statuesque Sara conveys her emotions with her facial expressions and powerful dancing ability in this show. She also delivered the goods in “Being Earnest” and “Miracle on 34th Street.” Andy McLeavey plays the heroic Siegfried who auditions the boys and girls with a long incredible tap dance routine near the start of the show. His warm rapport with his fellow performers comes through in the dance routines. I last reviewed Andy in “Rocky Horror Show” at Foothills Theatre back in 2006. It is great to review him again.
The evil, horrendous villain is fabulously played by David Visini who displays his strong dancing ability in this role. He taps up a storm as he captures the sliminess of Von Rothbart while abusing Odette in the dances by yanking her out of Siegfried’s arms. I’m very happy to finally review David as a major character in a show, having seen him do a great job in chorus roles in the past. Robbins gives every member of her cast their moment to standout in the show with either individual dance moves or as partners in the dances. Briana Fallon and Gillian Mariner Gordon also shine in the show as the Little Swans who dance with Odette in the Burlesque dances as well as the other dance routines.
Jackson Jirad is a spitfire dancer who continually leads the chorus in the dance numbers and does fantastic splits, tap dances up a storm as Siegfried’s right hand man, Ben Kelly. Another animated dancer is Michael Skrzek who tap danced on his toes in the male audition number very impressively. I last reviewed him in “A Christmas Carol” at Hanover Theatre this past December. So for a breathtaking, fabulous musical and dancing extravaganza, be sure to catch the World Premiere of “Swan Lake in Blue” before it heads off to bigger venues in the future. Run do not walk to the box office to catch this spectacular masterpiece of entertainment in Stoneham at the Greater Boston Theatre Company. Tell them Tony sent you.
SWAN LAKE IN BLUE (15 February to 1 March)
Greater Boston Stage Company, 395 Main Street, Stoneham, MA
1(781)279-2200 or www.greaterbostonstage.org
