BWW Reviews: NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT at Ogunquit Playhouse

By: Trevor Worden

Ogunquit Playhouse mounted the newest installment of their Summer series last week, with their production of Nice Work If You Can Get It. It is an excellent attempt at making an otherwise mediocre show more than what it is.

Nice Work If You Can Get It is, at best, a show about a prohibition era bootlegger who falls in love through hilarity and happenstance. The story follows Billy Bendix who works smuggling alcohol through New York City. She is written as an atypical, postmodern woman living in an era not-quite caught up with her sensibility. We follow her as she falls quickly and hopelessly in love with a recently remarried rich New York socialite, Jimmy Winter. Billy is a working class girl with very modest means and Jimmy is the exact opposite.

The show is underscored by the music of the Gershwin brothers, lending the feeling of an era gone by. This is the highlight of the show. The music is ageless and beautifully played by a surprisingly small orchestra pit of six players. One can't help but wish for a more lavish orchestra pit, especially at one of the premiere regional theaters of New England, but the six players do a stand-up job of filling out the sound.

The script was first produced at Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut and was rewritten several times before its 2012 production on Broadway. Since its Broadway mounting, the show has found its way back into the regional theaters, where it is best fit.

The biggest flaw of the show is its book. The scenes are labored, clunky, and sometimes downright painful to watch. At times the scenes feel like a terrible segue to the next big song. The show is not plot heavy.

However, Oqunquit's production is the best possible production of this show. Overall the lead and secondary characters assemble and muddle through the poorly written script with clarity and nuance.

The curtain opens on visually stunning sets by Shoko Kambara and Derek McLane. The costumes are equally sumptuous and and perfectly styled for each scene. They were designed by Martin Pakledinaz. The production quality is Broadway-worthy due to the smart direction of Larry Raben and choreographer Peggy Hickey. All of the sight gags, visual tricks, and exaggerated lovability from the Broadway production has been transferred onto the stage at Ogunquit Playhouse. Any audience member will easily be transported with the gorgeous aesthetic being presented on Ogunquit's stage.

The cast is mixed in strengths, reflecting the overall mixed feel from the script and score.

As Billy Bendix, Amanda Lea LaVergne is a standout talent. She is beautifully relatable as Billy and she is makes every moment onstage work for her. She navigates each scene with poise and grace. Her comedy is expertly smart and pointed. She takes a two dimensional character and makes it live onstage. Her voice lacks the nuance and agility for jazz, but it is a fine standard musical theater voice.

As the leading Man Jimmy Winter, Joey Sorge warms up to the role. Sorge's first act is spotty. He is largely unbelievable as a drunk and he looked entirely insincere for most of the act. There is one exception, and that is in his last scene with LaVergne that turned the tide for Sorge. Here he works with finesse and remarkable warmth. If at any point you doubted his characterizations in the beginning of the show, he begins to make up for those doubts here.. For Sorge this quality continues from here on in, through the rest of the show.

Sally Struthers enters early on as the bloodhound Duchess Estonia Dulworth who wants to end all bootlegging in the New York City area. Struthers is at home onstage in Ogunquit. It is clear right from the beginning, she knows the audience intimately and she plays each scene right to them. The audience loves her, and it is clear she loves them . Her moments onstage feel like you are watching theatrical history. She is brilliant as the dutchess. Her first act and second act are equally strong, though in different ways. Her first act song fits her voice perfectly, though gives her little time to eat the scenes. Her second act songs are less suited for her voice, but she navigates them with excellence and keeps the audience eating out of her hand.

James Beaman shines as Cookie Mcgee, the slapstick bootlegging accomplice to Billy. Beaman doesn't rest on the ill-written scenes to get him through the show. He navigates each scene quickly, getting in all of the appropriate laughs and getting out with clarity. Secondary characters Elyse Collier and Aaron Fried are both adorable and quick-witted in their roles of Jeannie and Duke, respectively.

Other supporting characters were less impressive with their roles. William Dee plays, what is supposed to be a bumbling but adorable cop, poorly. His performance came in under par, accentuated by the fact that he has such strong counterparts. Similarly Breighanna Minnema is forgettable onstage as the potential bride to Jimmy Winters, Eileen Evergreen. Her comedic timing falls flat, feels contrived, and adds dead weight to an already lackluster story.

Most disappointing is the arrival of Millicent Winter at the end of the second act which is played by Broadway veteran, Valerie Harper. Harper seemed to struggle through her lines and scenes and made for an awkward end of the second act. She looked pained onstage to find the words which were meant to come out of her mouth. Hopefully she will find more ease with this bit part as the run progresses.

The ensemble delivers their choreography with beautiful lines and excellent pictures. Overall the show is an excellent experience and well worth the ticket price. The theater now has a liquor license and a beautiful patio to enjoy pre and post theater drinks. Treat yourself to a beautiful experience and some quality theater at one of the best regional theaters in the country.

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