Set in Rialto's back room, the stage flooring was ringed by large tables; at the next shows on July 22 and 29, come hungry not just for Jody Adams's award-winning cuisine but lively communal conversation. Wisely, the show doesn't begin until after the dessert portion of a superb three-course regional Italian meal.
But then it's time to put down the fork. In the 40-minute "ShowDown," which premiered last month at Joe's Pub in New York City, Parker choreographs nearly ev ery song from the Irving Berlin musical in one wild, high-energy sweep. Instead of narrative and specific characters, Parker creates a flurry of couplings with a lot of arch gender play, set to recordings from the musical. Women long for men, men flirt with women before cavorting with other men.
There's a lot of ballet meets Broadway with a bit of camp Busby Berkeley thrown in. Some lifts have a romantic, balletic sweep, with graceful arms and heads nearly poking holes in the Rialto's low ceiling. Others go for the laugh, like Jeffrey Kazin's serpentine slither up and over his partner's shoulders, around his waist and through his legs, twisting all the while. "You Can't Get a Man With a Gun" ends with an upside-down man's legs gripping a woman's head in a playful choke hold.
It's not particularly inventive, and the tone stays a little high-pitched for too long, but it's fun and entertaining. The intimacy of the space gives Parker's choreography a visceral punch - you can actually hear bodies collide, and "I Got the Sun in the Morning" flings bare feet into resounding thwacks on the floor. You can see every facial nuance and comic detail, every covert glance and arched brow. Parker's dancers have vivid dramatic presence and spot-on timing.
"There's No Business Like Show Business" felt like the production's rousing finale. But then Parker himself came out for what he called a "bonus track," with live keyboard accompaniment, of a number he described as the seed of the show. It was the 1966 version of "An Old Fashioned Wedding" (with lyrics promising to "Love and honor, yes, but not obey"); Parker had choreographed it for the 50th anniversary of his well-known parents, Robert and Joan. Parker prefaced the number by acknowledging the recent gains allowing gay marriage, "Where people like me have unfettered access to bourgeois values," he joked. Then he and Kazin did a cozy song and tap routine that sent diners out the door happy and sated, humming the tune.
