Photo by Roland Finger

Theatre Disco Has New Shiny Balls

Video
By Roland Finger Theatre Editor

Do not confuse The show with That sitcom. This musical revue is the brain, dance, and song child of Craig Ellingson and Julie Adams. They scanned pop charts from the 70’s and pulled out the best the decade could offer, weaving some hot music with some even hotter group dance routines. Kara Fry did a great job as the Assistant Choreographer, polishing the dancers until they shine like brand-spanking new disco balls. If you appreciate pelvic-thrusting John Travolta style disco, this is the show for you. If you don’t know anything about the age of disco, here is a hip-happening introduction. At one point, audience members are given a lesson on how to “Do The Hustle” and are invited to join the cast.

Disco fired up a decade along with its close cousin Rock and Roll. The show tours the Age of Aquarius and gets down with the Bee Gees. The Village People’s YMCA is also prominent. The actors have soul and reveal that many of these pop wonder songs contain ever-needed messages. Much of the show is about Carpe Diem, and some segments express major disillusion with vacuous lives of materialism. The numbers reveal an urge for heightened experience, along with a desire for a simple and direct life.
My Sharona rocks hard, and there are plenty of fly girls busting moves that will capture your heart. Disco and Rock are about being hot, young, full of life and flirtation. They are about attitude. If women dance with abandon, men also release their inner dancing beasts. The show has great pacing, mixing up slower songs with fast routines. And you won’t want to miss Mr. Whipple and his Charmin fetish.
Many of the dance moves come straight out of Soul Train. The revue visits the time of the Solid Gold dancers, an era that influenced today’s American Idol and pop scene. You will recognize and get into many of the songs: You Light Up My Life, The Cat’s in the Cradle, I Can See Clearly Now, and who can forget Hot Stuff?

This show is good for the soul. Rod Stewart and Elton John would be proud of the cast and would love to attend. I recommend that you go in your favorite 70’s costume. Once in a while, we need a 70’s fix, a release from inhibitions. This show will help you to shake your Groove Thing. Are you a Brick House? Do you like Abba? Do you need to send out an SOS? Have you ever heard of Captain and Tenille? Carole King? Helen Reddy? The show has some strong feminist songs from the era that invented the modern movement. I especially like the Sister Sledge section of this show, in which some of the male actors turn into sisters. Men and women do the sister thing because you have to be flexible to keep up with the 70’s.

Questions and comments: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

IF YOU GO:
What: The 70’s Show
Where: MSUM, Hansen Theatre
When: June 21-24 at 7:30 p.m.
Info: 218.477.2271