Secrets Every Traveler Should Know is inspired by the Fodor travel guide of the same title. This revue, which ran for 900 performances on Broadway, is packed with useful information and suggestions. Uzbekistan is a place to get away from it all--from it ALL. You can have a hot time in Martinique. The William Morris Travel Agency will do for your travel plans what is has done for Paris Hilton's career plans. Dark pleasures and heartaches await those intrepid enough to actually wait for the next operator.
Originally performed with only four actors and a small combo, this production has expanded the cast to 14 singers and dancers accompanied by a piano and bass. This presents no problems and creates the opportunity to see an additional ten talented young people on the stage. Although not all of the performers are Vocal Arts majors, all of them have experience singing and dancing on stage. It shows. The clever lyrics are clearly enunciated and the dances are fun to watch. There is even an audience participation line dance taught by the cast at the end of the intermission!
A revue is just a collection of skits, songs and dances, usually humorous and satirical. Secrets is genuinely funny and the cast has a wonderful time presenting the material. It would be hard to pick a favorite performer although Jared LeBlanc has "star" written all over him. Martha and Ruth Diaz and Jenee Luquette are perfect as Barbie Doll stewardesses. Sasha Massey is a torch-singing Carol Burnett. Nick Manzo brought the house down with a rubber glove. Kristina Marshall can dominate a stage just standing there--although she does considerably more than that in a Carmen-Miranda getup backed by a male chorus right out of Vegas. Lindy Waldmeier is a martini-swilling beauty on a cruise to ennui with Brandon Breaux who may be the incarnation of Noel Coward's id. Evan Melancon can milk an audience sleeping in a chair! Nathan Abbot brings Rat Pack savoir-faire to a scene about what we leave behind when we leave home. Kevin Credeur looks like Ratso Rizzo as he sweats through customs. Alex Hollerman is a hoot as a small-town girl with a big city heartache who has a bus ticket and isn't afraid to use it. Stacy Broussard shows us why Star Search will never go out of fashion.
The whole cast just sparkles playing a variety of characters in the thirty or so songs and skits. Music Director/Pianist Marcus McCullough gets some great lines in a salute to the Salzburg Mozart Festival. Marcus is worth watching anyway. This man lives his music. He also has the best musical joke in the show as he tries to extricate himself from the last few bars of a Mozart concerto. Robert Nash, on bass, has some great expressions.
The costumes are witty, especially the stewardess outfits and the costume for NAKED IN PITTSBURGH which was a clear audience favorite. HOT LAVA puts the emphasis on HOT. I have to say it was my favorite number for staging, costume, performance and all-round pizzazz. But really, any number would be someone's favorite and they all deserve it. Check out Ruth Diaz and Evan Melancon in orthotic devices singing and dancing like Astaire and Rogers--in body casts. What's not to love?
Small pieces moving on and off the stage combined with a clever backdrop let the show move along smoothly and quickly and supply all the visual reference we need. Sound and lights are smooth.
You could see a production of this show that spent more money, but you won't see a better production.
Smart Traveler Secret # 100--This show is about to close. Catch it tonight. Secret #101--Director Shawn Roy is a local treasure. Tell him so.
Secret #120--The acoustics in the room are fine unless you sit right next to the piano, as I did. Leave a little space so that you can hear the singers better. The show is not amplified so the singers have to hold their own with the musicians. They can and do, but they're more successful when they are closer to the audience than the musicians are.
---Walter Brown
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