A rich, middle-aged socialite and a dumb but sexy young dancer exploit each other for fun and profit. Locked in a loveless marriage, the socialite wants a little something on the side; the dancer, a gold-digger with the morals of an alley cat, wants someone to pay the bills. The socialite sets the dancer up in a “love nest,” as it used to be called, and bankrolls the would-be star’s new nightclub.
Porchlight Music Theatre’s energetic revival compensates for the script’s shortcomings by immersing the audience in the seedy ambience of a Windy City nightclub. Punctuating scene changes with the rumble and flashing lights of passing el trains, director Michael Weber breaks down the barrier between “onstage” and “offstage” action, integrating the musical numbers into the dialogue and making the show come off as a nightclub revue—a “comedy with songs,” as Lorenz Hart intended, rather than a musical. (Unfortunately, inconsistent sound quality obscures some of the dialogue. Either mike the show or don’t, folks.) Happily, Weber restores a tune that was cut from the show during its original tryouts—Joey’s aching, tough-edged ballad “I’m Talking to My Pal,” one of Rodgers and Hart’s finest creations, which conveys Joey’s essential isolation.
Through 5/26 Fri 8 PM, Sat 4 and 8 PM Sun 2 PM Stage 773
1225 W. Belmont 773-327-5252 porchlightmusictheatre.org $32-$41
