Crazy For You
OPENING: October 5th, 2000
CLOSING: 2001.
Seen: December 2000
LOCATION: Westchester Broadway Theater
My Summer of theater, of course, eventually had to end.
I was never particularly liked in middle and elementary school. I was just different, as many theater kids are. I couldn’t care less of what the boys thought of me – unless they wanted me to play basketball with them. I couldn’t keep up with the trends, and to this day I need help not looking ridiculous when I’m looking for a new performance outfit. I was just an overall easy target. And now that I had discovered my love for all things Broadway – let the games begin.
But despite my quickly growing knowledge of the theater world, I still had so much to learn. So when that Christmas rolled around and the tickets under the tree were NOT for Broadway but for the Westchester Broadway Theater, disappointment was an understatement. To my preteen brain, if it wasn’t ON Broadway, it didn’t count.
My fully developed adult brain knows how ridiculous that is, but I was getting bullied in school and Broadway had become my safe place. It was especially ridiculous because the tickets were for Crazy for You, a fabulous adaptation of a Gershwin musical that just isn’t done enough, since theaters tend to favor 42nd Street or A Chorus Line if they are looking for a classic dance musical.
Nonetheless, I masked my disappointment and got excited to head to Elmsford.
If my disappointment that WBT wasn’t Broadway was at all evident when we got the theatre, it dissipated once the show started. And it was most definitely an educational experience as well; it was my first exposure to both Gershwin and the quintessential dance musical.
Probably most important? It was my first introduction to the amazing world….of the tap musical.
Up to this point in my life, dance class had been my nemesis. Even before my Theatre Kid awakening, my obligatory dance classes (Because I was a girl, of course) were painful. I was not willowy and I looked ridiculous in a tutu, so tater tot ballet class must have been quite a show with me in it. And my natural rhythm? Well…it wasn’t so natural. And grace? Let’s put it this way: when I had to play an elegant and graceful 1950’s housewife as an adult, one of my castmates was kind enough to critique my portrayal with “Well…it’s not exactly like a Mac Truck….more of the Mac Trucker’s Wife.”
But tap. Tap was aggressive. Tap was precise. Tap wasn’t about being pretty. It was about athleticism and creating music with your feet. And that was a thrilling revelation.
Technically, by the time I saw it, the musical we know and love as Crazy for You was under ten years old. It was one of the first Golden Age musicals to be “Updated”, though recently updated musicals keep their original names and the updates are more of a facelift than a total overhaul. The OG version, titled Girl Crazy, premiered on Broadway in 1930 and launched the careers of both Ginger Rogers and Ethel Merman. After several rewrites and reboots, it finally came back to Broadway in 1992 with Jodi Benson (Yes, THAT Jodi Benson) in the lead role of Polly and was rebranded as Crazy for You.
Watching the dancers, I couldn’t help but feel excited. Yes, this musical was an antique. Even my preteen self could tell that. But they were tapping with their feet – and their hands! They were matching their taps with knocks on baking pans and it was so cool! I wanted to do it!
And what I didn’t know? One young cast member, years later, would direct me in several shows. They are still working as a director and is widely respected as such. I think my head would have exploded if I had known. Additionally, one of the other actors (And Dance captain) later choreographed one of those shows, and even sold me my first pair of grown-up tap shoes. The theater world is small, and this is living proof.
If I have any regrets about this theater trip, it would be not appreciating WBT for what it was. It was a regional theater in the heart of Westchester County. And it was one of the few remaining dinner theaters left nationwide. But as with many businesses and theaters, it could not survive the coronavirus pandemic of 2020. They were forced to shut their doors permanently. Ironically, when the US went into lockdown on March 13th, 2020, the audition I had scheduled on March 15th was cancelled. My audition for Crazy for You. The show was never rescheduled.
To say that the community feels the loss is an understatement. There are other regional theaters in the area, such as White Plains Performing Arts Center and ACT of Connecticut in Ridgefield, but WBT had history. It employed Broadway actors as well as locals trying to get their start. We need more theaters like WBT. And it’s my hope that we can somehow nurture new ones.
CAST: ORIGINAL
TESS: Jan Leigh Herndon
PATSY: Sophie Askienazy
BOBBY CHILD: Shonn Wiley
BELA ZANGLER: Stephen Berger
MITZI: Heather Morris
SUSIE: Kathi Gillmore
LOUISE: Jennifer Voss
BETSY: Kirsten Brandt
MARGIE: Jennifer Turey
ELAINE: Hillary Elliott
IRENE ROTH: Nancy Hess
MOTHER: Patti Mariano
PERKINS: Nick Leone
MOOSE: Jerry Gallagher
MINGO: Mark S. Donato
SAM: Lee A. Wilkins
JUNIOR: David McMullin
CUSTUS: Nick Leone
PETE: Michael J. Walsh
BILLY: Jason S. Marguette
WYATT: Danny Bergold
POLLY BAKER: Meredith Patterson
EVERETT BAKER: Steve Elmore
LANK HAWKINS: Daren Kelly
EUGENE FODOR: Donald E. Birely
PATRICIA: DJ Gray
MALE SWING: Venny Carranza
FEMALE SWING: DJ Gray
DANCE CAPTAIN: Jennifer Turey
UNDERSTUDIES: Danny Bergold (Bobby); Kathi Gillmore (Polly); Nick Leone (Bella Zangler, Everrett); Michael J Walsh (Lank); Heather Morris (Irene); DJ Gray (Mother); and Kirsten Brant (Tess).
Bahr, Sarah. “Dinner is No Longer Served: The Theater That Built Careers is Gone.” New York Times; November 23, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/23/theater/westchester-broadway-theatre-closed.html
