Dance Captain Finds Gig To Be 'Nice Work If You Can Get It'
Posted
David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
WABASH – If trick-or-treating doesn’t sound like fun this Halloween, or a Broadway musical sounds more thrilling, then the Honeywell Center may offer another choice for you Oct. 31. The Broadway musical “Nice Work If You Can Get It” will hit the Honeywell stage at 7:30 p.m. as part of the Wabash Valley Music Association Series. Tickets are $24, $38 and $54. Alison Morooney, dance captain for the musical, took some time to answer a few questions via email about the show. She also is the understudy of one of the main characters, Billie. Q: “Nice Work if You Can Get It” is a fairly new show. For audiences who may not know too much about it, describe the plot of the show in your own words. Morooney: “Nice Work if You Can Get It” is a screwball comedy that takes place during 1920’s prohibition. Three bootleggers find themselves in a tight situation when they hide their huge stash of gin in wealthy playboy Jimmy Winter’s not-so-empty beach house. While the gang tries to keep their loot safe, Jimmy finds himself enthralled with tough girl and “best bootlegger in the business,” Billie Bendix, even though he is already married to a wealthy senator’s daughter. Our show follows Jimmy and Billie as they fight to be together despite themselves. They navigate through a gaggle of chorus girls, a Republican Senator and his prohibitionist sister, and a cop out to bust the bootlegging operation. Q: The show features a score by George and Ira Gershwin. What kind of effect does that have on the show's tone, music and vibe? Morooney: The great thing about the Gershwins’ music is how varied it is. Each number has its own unique style, which allows the singing and the dancing to vary constantly throughout the show. I think a lot of people’s favorite thing about this show is the music. We are fortunate to have some of the best Gershwin tunes in our show, and they take the audience seamlessly through the story. We have the fun, boisterous nature of the dance numbers and the beauty of the lush love songs. Q: As the dance captain, explain what it was like for you working on this show. How much dancing is involved, and how does it compare to other shows you've done? Morooney: The dancing in this show is unlike anything I’ve ever done before. The choreography is highly stylized to the time period which makes it a unique challenge for me as dance captain. Although this show contains significantly less dancing than other shows I have worked on, I find myself working just as much if not harder because of the specificity of the choreography. Q. The show is set in 1927 and features a trio of bootleggers. What dancing styles were incorporated into the show to reflect the time period? Are the dance styles more difficult than modern dance today, or are they just different? Morooney: Like I said before, the dancing is highly stylized. You’ll see choreography taken straight from the dance halls and the famous performers of the time period. While I think that the dancing isn’t necessarily harder than a more modern style, I think the fact that it is a style from the past makes it hard for a modern day cast to pick it up. For most of us, the style was completely foreign at the beginning of rehearsals. Q. In the show, Billie insists that love is for suckers. What does the show have to say about love? Do you agree or disagree with its take? Morooney: I think above all else, this show says that love teaches you to be a better version of you. Each character is a completely different person than he or she was by the time the curtain goes down. They all are better for the journey they went on (even if the journey is at times ridiculous). This is something that I believe very strongly in. The best kind of love if the kind that makes you a better person at the end of the day, and it often is quite a journey to get there. Q. You're the understudy for Billie. What's the best qualities about the character in your opinion, and the worst? What affects her the most in the show and how does it change her, if at all? Morooney: Billie is such a fun role to play! What I love about her is that she is such a touch cookie. She is in a lot of ways tougher and more clever than the men she works with, and I love that so much. Maybe the worst thing about her is her temper, she can be very hot headed at times. When she meets Jimmy Winter her world is turned upside down, and she realizes that she might want someone to care for her after all. Her encounters with Jimmy open up all of this unexplored territory for Billie: love, joy, pain and compromise. Q. What are some of your reasons that a person should come see the show at the Honeywell Center in Wabash Oct. 31? Morooney: There really is something for everyone in this show! This show has laugh-out loud comedy, zany characters, a great love story, beautiful music, gorgeous costumes and sets, and big dance numbers too!
