[NEohioPAL]Berko review: HOLIDAY DREAMS (CAROUSEL)

[Roy Berko]

FEATURED ACTS IN ‘HOLIDAY DREAMS’ AT CAROUSEL ARE
EXCELLENT

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--

Lorain County Times--Westlaker Times--Lakewood News
Times--Olmsted-Fairview Times	


This is the time of year when theatres seek ways to
use the holiday season to entertain audiences.  Some
decide to take the serious route and present the likes
of ‘A CHRISTMAS CAROL’  (Great Lakes Theatre Festival)
while others go the ‘PLAID TIDINGS’ route (The
Cleveland Play House).  Still others decide that they
should present a series of acts, surrounded by holiday
sounds and songs.  The later decision was made by the
producers of the Carousel Dinner Theatre in Akron.  

To accomplish their goal the theatre’s producers
decided, according to one of their public relations
team, to turn to Las Vegas, the home of the very best
in review-type entertainment.  Their mission was to
provide stellar specialty acts and embed these into a
holiday sing-and-dance-along.  Therefore, ‘HOLIDAY
DREAMS, AN INTERNATIONAL HOLIDAY SHOW,’ was created
especially for Carousel by Q Productions Las Vegas.

On the positive side, Q Productions did find some
excellent specialty acts.  Romano Frediani is an
eighth generation juggler.  Handsome, charming and
talented the young man mesmerized the audience with
his juggling golden boxes and playing the drums with
balls while juggling the spheres.  He convulsed the
audience by making himself the cog-pin in a “ring the
juggler” routine in which members of the audience were
asked to frisbee-toss silver rings over Frediani’s
head.  He put life and limb at stake as he dove, slid
and cartwheeled across the stage to get neck-cuffed by
the errant throws.  The more the tossers missed, the
more hysterical the proceedings became.

Danny D’Oscar, a mass of muscles, received much
applause for his balancing and flying routines.  The
Cuban defector used apparatus in the first act to
perform balancing acts of super strength.  His second
act actions consisted of an impressive display of
flying and swinging high above the heads of the
audience while twisting and turning on long red sheets
of material.

The Los Huincas Gauchos, a trio of Argentineans, has
been awarded the title, “Best Specialty Act in Las
Vegas.”  Their drum routines and synchronized dances
with the use of dangerous weapons, delighted.  Even
their use of audience members, which in other venues
is often both awkward and embarrassing, was
entertaining.

Unfortunately, the rest of the show varied from
amateurish to just plain awful.   This was best
exemplified when about half way through the show a
cast member asked the audience, “Are you having a good
time?” and was answered by a very weak number of
positive responses.  Even when he kidded the audience
about their lack of enthusiastic response, they didn’t
perk up much.

Michael Chambers’ choreography was generally
uninventive and often poorly executed.   The supposed
“Las Vegas’s best” performers proved adequate at best.
  Statuesque Betsy Allen, who has headlined shows for
the Luxor and the Las Vegas Hilton hotels has a
pleasant voice.  Jeff Hutson, the other featured
singer, was inconsistent in his renditions and
displayed little stage presence.   Both the male and
female dancing and singing choruses showed little
depth of talent.  Their vocal blends were often off
and their dance timings left much to be desired. 
There are many local talents who far exceed these
supposed pros.   The “original music” was repetitious
and lacked creativity.  How much variety can there be
in hearing the same rock and roll beat applied over
and over to versions of Christmas carols?.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:  The featured acts of Carousel
Dinner Theatre’s ‘HOLIDAY DREAMS’ are excellent and
highly entertaining.  If you can put up with the
dancing and singing, and place all your attention on
Romano Frediani, Danny D’Oscar and Los Huincas
Gauchos, you’ll have a fine time.

For tickets to Holiday Dreams, which runs through
January 9  call 800-362-4100.  Show times are Tuesday
through Thursday evenings at 8:00 p.m., Friday and
Saturday evenings at 8:30 p.m. and Sunday evenings at
5.  Matinees are on Wednesday through Saturday at 2. 
Dinner is served two hours prior to curtain.  Ticket
prices range from $25.50 to $46

Carousel’s next production is ‘THE HONKY TONK ANGELS’,
a kick up your heels, fun loving production with
classics from Tammy Wynette to Loretta Lynn and modern
hits from Dolly Parton and Reba McIntrye.  Songs
include “Stand By Your Man,” “Harper Valley PTA” and
“9-5.”  The show runs from January 12 through March 6.

=====
Roy Berko's web page can be found at www.royberko.info.  His theatre and dance reviews appear on NeOHIOpal, an on-line source, which can be subscribed to at no charge by contacting neohiopal at lists.fredsternfeld.com.


		
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