Riverwalk Theatre's new musical has every lure cast to catch an audience.
"Flipaswitch," the musical that tackles seduction, true love, morality and scandals, combines "The Full Monty"-type humor with classical settings and the musical talent of shows such as "The Music Man," to create an enjoyable and captivating musical.
Set during the Great Depression, the show's premise revolves around a hapless group of mostly middle-aged strippers, a luckless comic and their manager.
The party, complete with a ditz, a cynic and an innocent, is stranded because of money problems in Flipaswitch, Tenn.
Stuck in the American Bible Belt, the manager conceives a sneaky plan to sneak money out of the minister's wife Bertha.
The entire show is full of talent, but especially pronounced are the abilities of two leading women, Janine Novenske Smith, who plays the stripper Mary, and Colleen Bethea, who portrays Bertha.
The vocal abilities of Smith and Bertha are strong enough to blow away audience members.
However, in some of the solo songs, the actors are drowned out by an overly zealous orchestra behind the scenes, causing the audience to strain in order to understand what is happening.
While all the principle characters are extremely well presented, the most stunning scenes are the full-cast musical numbers.
Director Louis Balestra makes excellent use of the small Riverwalk stage and pulls off vibrant dance and song numbers without creating an overbearing atmosphere so easily made in the close quarters.
The choreography is simple, yet creates a high energy, which is transferred into the audience. The cast is so well rehearsed, even the children, and the numbers are seamless, adding a highly professional air to the entire musical.
While the plot is not completely original - certain scenes call flashbacks of the movie "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar," in which three drag queens are stranded in small-town rural USA - it is still a refreshing stage show.
"Flipaswitch" has its share of cliché plot twists, but is a thoroughly enjoyable evening full of local talent that propels a stimulating story with toe-tapping musical numbers.
"Flipaswitch" will play through Feb. 6. Tickets are $16. For more information, call (517) 482-5700.
