Backwards in High Heels
Backwards in High Heels
By Lynnette Barkley and Christopher McGovern
Book and arrangements by Christopher McGovern
Directed and choreographed by Roy Alan
Musical Direction by Chris Leavy
Starring BambiEllen Fadoul and Tara Snyder
Winter Park Playhouse, Winter Park FL</strong>
I admit my world view of Ginger Rodgers (Fadoul) revolves around her black and white relation with Fred Astaire. Of course, she had a life before and after, and it’s much more layered and complex than expected. Her mother was an ex script girl and divorced, she moved to Texas to raise her daughter Virginia away from the Hollywood madness. But little Virginia not only hated her name and Texas, but she was dance obsessed and soon won a tour on the fabled Orpheum circuit and changed her name. Fame followed hard work, and as we hear repeatedly, “Beauty is an asset, but it’s not the whole cheese.” Rogers cranked out 20 successful movies before Fred Astaire showed up, but he was paid more. That pay discrepancy bugged her, and when the RKO contract expired, she was back on her own. Another string of successful movies followed, and she quickly won the academy award for a film everyone thought couldn’t be filmed. She sure showed them!
With a cast of mostly newcomers, this is a bouncy and energetic biopic set on stage. There’s tons of tap dancing and divorces, Ms. Rogers was fast on her feet but suffered from daddy issues all her life. Ms. Fadoul’s portrayal shows determination, dedication and the sort of hard headedness necessary to succeed in show business and fail in personal affairs. There’s clever stuff here, she even tap dances on the wall while lying in bed. Her best moments are the tap numbers (Tame These Feets, Fascinating Rhythm) but she can do a decent torch song when called upon (But When). As the mother Lela, Snyder seems both offended and thrilled by her daughter’s success, but keeps a still upper lip through it all. In the supporting cast the best performance belongs to Katrina Johnson, her Ethel Merman impression rattled the back wall. Daniel Longacre played Mr. Astaire, he seemed nice but inoffensive and when they danced it was clearly Ms. Fadoul in control. Towards the end of the show several celebrity impersonations popped up, Christoff Marse did a decent Jimmy Stewart and Jamie Lowe played Lew Ayers, one of Gingers hubbies and one of those big stars of the era that no one seems to recall anymore.
There’s tons of tap and s strong set of lyrics in this show, and the book is deeper and broader than most dance histories. Rodgers had a penchant for alcoholic and abusive men, but her real energy was pointed at the stage and at fame. You can’t win at everything, her marriages were disastrous and short, and there’s a sub text here that she would have liked children but never had the time to have them. Ginger Rogers was a wonderful star in her own right, but dang it, it was dancing with that overpaid guy that made her stick in our brains for the past half century.
For more information on Winter Park Playhouse, visit http://www.winterparkplayhouse.org/
The Winter Park Playhouse August 1-23, 2014
