On the Rocks

The boys with the ugly knees and the false tresses did themselves proud last night. They had considerable help from writer, composer, choreographer, and director, but the boys carried off most of the medals, and probably had much more fun.

The marvelous romp begins when dignified Joe Raposo strolls to the piano and then bounces, rumbles, and tickles his way through some very pleasant music. As soon as the curtain rises, however, the boys take over, their ebulient spirit chanelled into a properly farcical plot. Mrs. Leroy St. Clair of the 1920 Oyster Bay Set (those were the days and the people) is making the final arrangements for her blonde, blue-eyed, and fashionably flat daughter's coming out party. Daughter is none too happy about it all as she has a poor but noble lover. Widow St. Clair is, herself, being courted by the dubious but delightful Sir Peter who doesn't care as long as women and liquor (on the rocks) are free. To add to the tumult, Mrs. St. Clair's long lost brother from Kansas shows up with his wife and lots of socially unaceptable notions. Drama begins when the St. Clair diamonds disappear, and everybody from Peter, to poor but proud, to the butler with the shady record is suspect. In the long run, love, sex, liquor, and all the virtues triumph.

Books and lyrics were the work of Jay Cavior while Victor Ziskin composed the music. The two gentlemen have splashed their considerable talent all over On the Rocks and time and time again the result is sparkling. A few of the lyrics are unexciting and some of the music is dull, but these are the exceptions as the audience is always tapping, sometimes humming, occasionally clapping in beat with the kick line, and once joined in for the chorus of a calypso number.

As Zoe St. Clair, Glenn Goldberg is an incredibly marvelous ham, getting every possible laugh out of each word, and getting a few more with his actions. His singing is not as good, perhaps because he puts so much work into the dialogue, that there's nothing new left for the songs. As her blonde daughter Ivy, Nick Carter brings the house down. He is a delightful summer edition of one of F. Scott Fitzgerald's more uncomfortable winter dreams. Uncle Peter is played by Dave Wells. From the very tips of his moustache he drips with a beguiling, bloody-British, and beautifully portrayed cynicsm.

As the butler, Stan Yassukovich provided a shifty look and a very pleasant voice. The maid he loved was played with sympathy and bounce by Marshall Schwarz. With the help of six enthusiastic "female" servants, Marshall brought the house down, with "I Want to Be a Follies Girl."

The brother from out west was played by Hank Holmes, his wife by Fred Mueller. Hank was both convincing and delightful, while Fred provided a marvelous caricature of a loud, if not rip-roaring, midwestern wife. Pare Lorentz capably handled a none too sparkling part as Ivy's poor lover Miguelo. The same was true of John Stimpson as Miguelo's friend, Manuel. The third of the Spanish trio, Mona, was given a sultry, slippery, outrageously funny rendition by Don Rabuzzi.

Of the many other characters who filtered across the stage one deserves special mention--the West Indian Songstress of the unlikely name of Lady Godiva who was played by Pete Gaynor with enthusiasm and a grotesquely good delivery. The chorus of butlers and maids entertained the audience almost as much as they entertained themselves, which evidently was considerable. There were at least four split dresses on stage.

The three "retired" crooks are just as soon forgotten while the Incomparable Irmagard (John Britton) was given a nice costume but little else. The three female society editors (Messrs. Blanchard, Hamner, and Mattson) tried hard, but not very successfully.

The sets by Webster Lithgow were imaginative without being distracting. Michyl Veach's costumes not only covered the required territory, but occasionally added to the local color. Director James Paul paced the play with a properly professional skill. Some very bright behind-the-scenes work was done by choreographer Liz Keen. Miss Keen is not only imaginative, but she fully exploited the possibilities of her dubious dancers.

As a whole, On the Rocks demonstrates a very professional ability to enjoy being amateurs. The result is great fun.