Bless Me Father, For I Have Danced
Bless Me Father, For I Have Danced
Book by Juan Cantú
Original Music and Lyrics by Juan Cantú
Choreography by Eric Yow an Daniel Hunalp
Starring T. Robert Pigott, Bobby Cassell, Paul Padilla, and Claire Longest
Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival, Orange Venue</strong>
Now THAT’S entertainment! This show rocks, it’s the packed with sparkly high energy dance numbers that are right out of the glory days of big over-the-top musicals. Two dozen top dancers from the Disney execute this tap barrage with numbers from “Anything Goes” to “Chicago” to “I Got Rhythm” and “42nd Street.” The choreography is brilliant and executed perfectly, not one arm or leg was eve out of place and you could see the floor bouncing. There’s even a thread of a story, and not a bad one by big musical standards. Johnny (Cassell) wants to audition from an advanced dance class in New York, but his religion parents (Pigott and Krista Kelly) oppose the idea and they turn to Father Gonzales (Padilla) to decide. Johnny asks if the good Father had ever seen a musical, and shows him some sexy productions of “Mein Herr” and “Chicago”. Meanwhile we discover Mom used to dance, and even his dad has repressed terpsichorean skills, he agonizes about them in “I Hate Singing, I Hate Dance”. Father G converts and goes on to lead a sprightly “Heaven Hop” while Johnny and his GF (Longest) head off to New York and his parents loosen up a bit. The only issue is poor audio, it’s sometimes hard to hear the vocals, they are either weak or just drowned out by the tap line. But this is still a stunning production that got the audience on its feet; heck, I may go see this again, just because.
This production is part of the 2014 Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival. Information on tickets and show times may be found at http://OrlandoFringe.org/
