"Stepping Out" Steps Up and Delivers With Delight
by Alexandyr Kent
The Shreveport Times
akent@gannett.com
Tap dancing is about more than just learning steps. It's focusing and finding a form of joyful expression that escapes the everyday.
The idea drives "Stepping Out," Richard Harris' comedy about an evening dance class full of misfits. River City Repertory Theatre's new production runs through Sunday at the Scottish Rite Temple.
The show is funny, relatable and very entertaining.
"Stepping Out" concerns Mavis, an ex-professional dancer who teaches the class in a church basement in Buffalo, N.Y. Seven women and a timid guy take the lessons, and all but one are klutzes.
At first, they seem more interested in joking, making friends and finding fellowship in people trying hard to dance but not really succeeding. Their focus sharpens when Mavis tells them they've been asked to dance for a charity event. In preparing for a real stage, they must overcome anxiety, personality conflicts, personal problems and some hilariously bad technique.
One reason this show works so well is its comedic rhythm. Director Patric McWilliams and the cast slip into a pace that inspires laughter effortlessly and never overtly demands it. The performers create characters with real flaws that are easy to relate to and laugh with.
An aging church basement set and mismatched costumes complete the illusion of an evening dance class. I often felt as if I were spying on the dancers through a keyhole, watching their transformation take place behind closed doors.
Seva May is wonderful as Mavis, the teacher who sinks her being into her students. Like a good instructor, she's encouraging and accepts her dancers' shortcomings. Mavis wants them to be the best they can be, even when her patience inches close to the end.
The comedy essentially hinges on her ability to organize chaos.
She must deal with Vera, a high class snob who spends her breaks scrubbing floors and picking gum wads from heaven knows where. Janin Pou makes a perfect Vera, turning the neat freak into a sympathetic woman who means well but ruffles a lot of feathers while tidying up.
There's Maxine, the bawdy advice giver who wears gaudy clothing and a pair of the ugliest fur leg warmers I've ever seen. (Caution front row: I fear they're alive.) Played by Sherry Boucher, Maxine is brash, scene-stealing and often offensive.
There's also Dorothy, a nervous, enthusiastic wreck played by Jodie Glorioso. Armed with a pollen allergy and an excitable temperament, Glorioso gets some of the biggest laughs from the crowd with some well-aimed sneezing and sharp character work.
And there is Andy, a frail do-gooder who lacks self esteem. Played by Bonnie Gillen, Andy hides behind drab, wrist- and ankle-length clothing and a shaky voice.
The show's most tender moment comes when Mavis asks Andy what she gets out of class. Andy's pallid demeanor brightens as she answers that it's the only thing she does for herself during the week.
McWilliams and choreographer Katie Dupont deserve kudos for getting the dancers to look left-footed for most of the show. When the finale arrives and the hoofers prove they've got a little grace in the tank, it's a very rewarding moment.
Peggy Byers, Charity Schubert, Angelique Feaster, Jenni Loer and Pat Maxey deserve equal notice. I'm certain audiences will find just as much to love about their performances.
The show is a great fit for the Scottish Rite Temple. McWilliams, who also designed the set and costumes, paints a place of promise from a plain palette. That's not easy.
The dance floor spills out from the proscenium arch, behind which is a flat, tall, initially nondescript white wall. As scenes cycle by, the feet of dancers walking to class become visible through small street-level windows. A few random tiles have also fallen, hinting the church basement is a sort of refuge from a world tough on dreams.
Credit for the show's success also is shared with light designer Russell Dyer and sound designer Kermit Poling.
"Stepping Out" offers a delightful 2 and a half hours of easy and meaningful entertainment. It's a night all theatre goers can appreciate.
