Looking for a romantic yet whimsical night out? Clovis North Drama’s production of “Crazy For You” might be just what you are seeking.
“Crazy For You” is a romantic comedy for the ages. Bobby Child, played by Connor Barton in his final role with Clovis North Drama, is the son of a wealthy New York banker with dreams of becoming a star Broadway actor. When his mother sends him to the fictional old west town of Deadrock, Nev., to foreclose a rundown theater, Bobby instead falls hard for the daughter of the theater’s owner, Polly Baker, played by the spunky Emilie Richardson. High-energy dance numbers, quirky love ballads and doppelganger mishaps ensue for a production that evokes knee-slapping laughter.
The play is directed by Clovis North’s Joel Abels and features music and lyrics written by George and Ira Gershwin. The production premiered Thursday, March 6 at the Mercedes Edwards Theater.
Barton gives a great performance as Bobby. He spends most of the production bouncing around the stage for several high-velocity tap dances. He was especially terrific in the “What Causes That?” duet he performed with Colby Carrier, who plays Bela Zangler, a pretentious foreign director who owns a theater in New York. The characters lament the love they seemingly cannot have in the hilarious duet, which is a must see.
Richardson’s gutsy portrayal of Polly is another highlight. Her spunky take on Polly is a comedic contrast from Barton’s uptight and lovesick Bobby. Some of the production’s best moments were when it was just the two actors on stage, courting each other through dance and song.
One of the production’s biggest strengths seemed to be the chemistry shared by the cast.
Abels said the cast members were especially close this season.
“Particularly this group of kids this year, they really like each other and they all get along and they are part of a team and they help each other. I think that shows on stage. The chemistry between these kids is because of all the work they do and the good hearts that they have,” Abels said.
The director praised his cast and crew, which he said had to work under a short timeframe to rehearse for the production because of a licensing mishap.
“Our choreographer, Vanessa Gonzalez, who is the choreographer at Clovis East, had a fairly limited amount of time to teach all of the production numbers. We worked into the evenings, we had Saturday rehearsals to make up time because it was a fairly short amount of time that we rehearsed the show,” Ables said.
“But the kids are extremely hard working, always have been, so this show, although challenging with all the dance, they were up for the challenge and they were a hard working group,” he continued. “I had a lot of kids in this show that are freshman and were new to the drama program. To see them and to see the growth that they brought to this production was pretty special.”
“Crazy For You” runs at the Mercedes Edwards Theater until Saturday, March 14. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the show begins at 7:30. A matinee show is available the last day of the production at 2 p.m.
Tickets cost $10 for students and $12 for adults. Tickets can be purchased at the door or at www.broncodrama.com.