CAN CAN

Westchester Broadway Theatre 

August 31, 2012

The latest offering from our good friends at the Westchester Broadway Theatre is Cole Porter’s Can Can.

Glory Crampton as Pastiche is captivating;  Patrick Richwood as Boris is amazing.  Patrick is a veteran of the stage, TV shows, commercials and 24 motion pictures.  His professionalism shows.

The rest of the cast is fine;  the choreography is great by Richard Stafford who doubles as director.  This is Richard’s ninth production with BWT, and he uses this wonderfully large stage to the fullest.  Richard has also choreographed on Broadway.

One note I feel compelled to add is the performance of “It’s Alright With Me.”  The score is by Cole Porter, so no bad songs here, but this is one of the most recognizable and prettiest.  Unfortunately Tony Lawson playing Aristide does not do it justice.  There is a haunting quality to this song, a poignancy and a sadness and this performance brought nothing of the sort.  That was my one disappointment.

Since this is dinner theatre, we feel it is appropriate to comment on the dinner as well as the show.  The former chef retired recently and, dare I say it, the food seems to have improved somewhat.  Still too soon to make a definitive judgement, but we will keep our eye on the dinner part of this dinner theatre.  It was always good, btw, not to knock the previous chef, but, well, Friday’s prime was delicious!

BWT is in Elmsford, easily accessible from the Sprain and other major highways.  It is always worth the time and the price.  There is plenty of free parking and the wait staff is professional and courteous.  If you find yourself free one day with nothing to do, then this is definitely something fine to do.