The Lords of Long Island are back as the MacEwan Theatre Arts program launches its season with the sophisticated melodies of Cole Porter’s High Society.
Running until Saturday, Nov. 6 at the John L. Haar Theatre, you don’t so much stumble into the past as glide into the fizzy champagne love life of the spoiled rich.
And it’s some of Porter’s best works that tie the wispy plot together and keep the audience floating on foam, numbers such as High Society, Ridin’ High, I Love Paris, Let’s Misbehave and Just One of Those Things.
Directed by Bridget Ryan, also one of the area’s best comedic improvisers, this light confection is delivered with the scent of wry, self-deprecating mockery.
Set among the privileged society of Oyster Bay, the two-hour show plays musical chairs with the upcoming nuptials of Tracy Lord (Brittany Hunter), a bubbly divorcee who wields the sword of justice without always displaying a compassionate heart.
She is about to marry an ambitious stick-in-the-mud businessman, George Ketteridge (Christopher Scott), for all the wrong reasons. Her charming ex, Dexter Haven (Luke Hamilton), still carries a torch for her and unexpectedly sails into port. In addition, Spy magazine has some dirt on patriarch Seth Lord’s (Lorenzo Damiani) sexual indiscretions, and reporter Mike Conner (Corey Schmitt) and photographer Liz Imbrie (Kerry Johnson) wangle an invitation to cover the wedding.
Although the musical is littered with witty lines, it’s extremely difficult to pull off effortless silliness, more so if it’s a student cast still learning its craft.
But the play is pocketed with delicious moments of fun such as when the beautiful Lord gets giggling drunk with the cynical Conner, who by now has fallen head over heels in love with her.
Dustin Allen, who plays the foggy-minded Uncle Willie, in hot pursuit of the younger Imbrie’s feminine charms, delivers a performance of frenzied fun. And St. Albert’s own Arielle Ballance as mother Margaret Lord, is the epitome of 1950s elegance and grace.
But the real scene-stealer is Dinah Lord, (Daisy Daver), Tracey’s younger sister, a curious and mischievous teenager with buckets of natural charm and a loose tongue to match.
Finally, one of High Society’s beauties is Scott Peters’ set, a circle of magnificent Greek pillars supporting two winding staircases with lots of room for the full-cast song and dance numbers.
