Review: Swingin' at the Chan

"Chanhassen Dinner Theatre" and "the joint is jumpin'" are two phrases that have never appeared in the same sentence. Until now. With a new production of "Swing!" the big room at Chan takes on a nightclub vibe -- "Smokey Joe's Cafe" on steroids. Moody lights reflect the stage fog hanging in the air, dancers cut the floor and singers fill the room with redolent tunes of the Swing Era. And thumping beneath, through, around and over this jukebox musical revue is the beat of George Maurer's jazz band.

So yeah, the staid joint does have a little hop in its cozy throwback booths and tables. If the best part of musical theater is music, "Swing!" offers up juicy filets of song and dance. It can feel a bit one-dimensional by the end of the evening, but four terrific singers keep the atmosphere sufficiently modulated.

"Swing!" marks a departure in several ways for Chanhassen, which uses a core of actors to stage well-known book musicals. It's a short run (nine weeks), it's directed by an out-of-towner (Sean Cercone) and it features more New York talent than any other show in memory.

That's not to say it feels like an import. Singer Sean Nugent, a regular of the past few seasons, opens things up and soon enough we see Fred Steele of the great Minneapolis singing family hustling across stage. Then there's Erin Marie Capello, a young singer from Minnetonka who -- guaranteed -- will become a familiar name. Kate Margaret, a national tour veteran, provides the fourth main voice.

Capello traipses on stage in her opening number ("Two and Four") as a misplaced diva who shakes the opera out of her tonsils when Nugent instructs her to hit the music off the downbeat. As the evening progresses, one wonders: How can there be so much voice in Capello's tiny body? She has an amazing elasticity, going from torch ("Skylark") to a husky, breathy whisper ("Cry Me a River").

Steele is a billboard of big, friendly attitude -- a sense of stage joy that makes everything feel comfortable. He alternately growls, caresses or croons his way through, teaming up with Margaret on several occasions to show off their comic chops, particularly on the scat tune "Bli-Blip" and "All of Me." Margaret has a glorious tousled mop of red hair and a voice that matches it in fire and unruly power.

Cercone and his choreographer, Alison Solomon, generally keep this show at a brisk pace. There are, however, too many moments when the dance doesn't have the crackling precision that grabs you by the lapels. Without that synchronicity, the numbers settle for mere entertainment. A funked-up "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" goes limp in nearly every way -- starting with the odd costuming choice of putting hoofers Matthew Michael Ferrell and Scott Gilbert in gray suits, toting briefcases. It never takes off. The close of the first act, too, falls surprisingly flat. There's no frenzy, no fury that leaves you riveted through intermission. That's a curious and significant shortfall.

Still, there is plenty of stuff to recommend in this breezy compendium. Solomon teams with Jason Colacino in a kicking Lindy romp in "Kitchen Mechanics' Night Out." Colacino and Beverly Durand, who was in the Broadway cast, are the real money dancers, as they show in the first-act highlight "Throw That Girl" and "Show Me What You've Got." And Solomon does a cool duet with bass player Cory Carter coming down front. They turn the big standup instrument into a sensual piece of equipment.

Maurer's group is outstanding -- a big, sonic splash of personality that drives undeniable moments of hot, muscular dance.

It's a whole different deal on the Chan stage for a brief season. The sweet romance of Rodgers and Hammerstein, even the pastiche melodies of Andrew Lloyd Webber, give way to a blast from the past that's sure to give the family night out a jolt.

Graydon Royce • 612-673-7299