Review: CAN CAN at ARTS Theatre

In Montmartre, Paris, in 1893, at the Bal du Paradis, 'La Môme' Pistache presents the risqué dance, the Can Can. The police raid the café and the dancers are arrested. It falls to Chief Judge Aristide Forestier to adjudicate, but only one of the arresting officers arrives to give testimony, and he claims to have seen nothing. Aristide then decides to go and gather evidence himself, with the warnings of his friend, the older and wiser Judge Paul Barrière, being ignored. He gets his photographic evidence, but falls in love with Pistache, complicating matters.

There is also a side story. A Bulgarian sculptor, Boris Adzinidzinadze, is in love with Claudine, a laundry maid and the principal dancer and they are hoping to impress the very influential art critic, Hilaire Jussac, to ensure successful futures for all of them. He lusts after Claudine, which Boris sees as a way to gain his critical acclaim. Their friends, Théophile, Etienne, and Hercule, also hope to gain some recognition.

With music and lyrics by Cole Porter and a book by Abe Burrows, both the original production from 1953 and the 1981 revival won Tony Awards. The 1960 film had numerous changes to the plot and the songs, but was still nominated for Academy Awards in several categories, although failed to win any.

The Metropolitan Musical Theatre Company is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year and one of their stalwarts, Leonie Osborn, is the director for this production, one more in a very long line of successful productions. She is aided and abetted by a new musical director, Stephanie Neale, and another Met regular and current president of the company, choreographer, Carmel Vistoli. There is no shortage of experience in this production.

I have to admit to a soft spot for this musical as I was a cast member in the company's 1984 production, which was the last time that they presented this work. It is just as much fun as I remember, with its quirky characters and comical situations.

Pistache, the owner of the café, is played by Selena Britz, who creates a strong, confident character in a vibrant and playful performance. She also sings up a storm and adds a few impressive dance moves of her own.

Daniel Fleming plays Judge Aristide Forestier, initially giving us a self-righteous prude with a single-minded attitude to what he sees as the lascivious goings-on at the café, then weakening in his resolve and finally switching sides. Fleming handles the changes convincingly.

Statuesque performer, Roberta Potamianos, plays Claudine, her year of dancing in Paris at the Moulin Rouge clearly evident. Potamianos has a good sense of comedy and gives us plenty of laughs as the girl caught in an unconventional and unexpected ménage a trois.

Boris Adzinizinazde is played by Jed McDonald in an hilarious high camp rendition of the role, bringing plenty of laughs to the production.

In the smaller roles, Chris Stansfield as Hilaire Jussac, Simon Barnett as Théophile, and Peter Keller as Judge Paul Barrière, all offer creditable performances, and Jacinta Vistoli, as the model, is larger than life.

It is sad, but true, that finding casts for musicals is becoming more difficult all the time, particularly with males. Right across the amateur theatre board, young people seem to think that, if they cannot have the lead role, they are not interested in being part of a production. Consequently, shows that would benefit from a large chorus and a sizeable dance troupe end up relying on smaller, but extremely enthusiastic groups, as is the case in this production, with five people in the ensemble and only four dancers to join with Claudine. They all work very hard and manage to create the impression of a larger group than actually exists.

Accents are highly variable but, in the end, the focus is really on the dancing and the songs, so don't pay too much attention. The orchestra generally does well, apart from a few intonation problems here and there, and a wayward trumpet.

Leonie Osborn's set design fits the bill nicely and she and Carmel Vistoli have assembled some very colourful costumes. There is plenty for the eyes as well as the ears in this bright and breezy show, so grab some tickets.

Here are a few tunes from the show.