FL OnStage: Stepping Out to the Theatre

Review by Beverly Friend, American Theatre Critics Association member

No dialogue! TIME STEP has no story! Just singing and dancing, dancing, dancing. Oh, it is easy to imagine a story, starting when the cast enters, spritely tapping their way up and down a magnificent staircase to The Lullaby of Broadway. They all carry suitcases.  Are they coming or going? The next song answers the question — 42nd Street! They have arrived — full of energy, and it is assured that these fresh, happy faces — five dancers and two singers now in the Big Apple — will end up on theater billboards.

If this is their story, each of the 23 routines that ensues could be following moments in their careers as they offer more and more complicated and varied routines. They are Spanish when performing Besame Mucho, Irish with Danny Boy, Italian with Volare. They perform jazz with This Joint is Jumping and are smooth and gliding in Tuxedo Junction. This is only the tip of an iceberg that also includes a European Jig, Flamenco, Reel Steps, Clog and African Rhythms — often brilliantly combined.

It is such a multi-talented cast. With fine, full voices, Sandra Marante and Matthew Staley handle the songs, with Staley sometimes providing accompaniment on the guitar. Lithesome MacKenzie Cutliffe and Ariel Seidman-Wright are the spritely female dancers, with Seidman-Wright also displaying talent as a fiddler Dancer/choreographer Sebastian Goldberg was joined by Stephen James Potter and Nathaniel J. Washington in non-stop, energetic numbers.

Kudos must go to costume designer Jerry Sturdefant for the bright, colorful costumes (and to the whole cast for their quick-change ability), to choreographers Goldberg, Allison C Scott, Ashley Bachner, McKayla Cephas,  Alessandra Torres, and to Stage Manager Jose-Luis Ramos for the dazzling staircase and the films projected on the back wall, providing wonderful visuals for the numbers. But highest praise is reserved for Kevin Black for his brilliant conception and direction.

Highly Recommended.

Stage Door Theater, 8036 W. Sample Rd. Margate Fl
954-344-7765 / www.stagedoorfl.org Tickets: $48 March 30-May 6
Showtimes: Wednesday, Saturday, & Sunday at 2 pm, Friday & Saturday at 8 pm