You can’t help but “feel the beat of dancin’ feet” as you watch the huge cast and crew of Moonlight Stage Productions’ “42nd Street,” playing through Sept. 2 at Vista’s outdoor Moonlight Amphitheatre.
There’s a long history here, and this version is a jukebox musical that includes songs from the original 1933 film “42nd Street” as well as songs that composers Harry Warren and Al Dubin wrote for many other films at around the same time.
Never mind. It’s a tap-dancing extravaganza about director Julian Marsh (played by Patrick Cummings), hoping to save his Depression-era career after bankruptcy in the stock market.
Marsh puts together this flashy 150-minute show that features lots of pretty young women (and a few older, more experienced ones, to add story interest), and a group of wonderful male dancers for them to dance with.
The show did, according to the program notes, save Warner Brothers from bankruptcy.
It stars Emma Nossal and Ian Black as principal young leads Peggy Sawyer (a young wannabe professional dancer) and Billy Lawlor the tenor lead. Together, they will dance their way right into your heart.
Other subtexts feature Tracy Lore as middle-aged Dorothy Brock, the past-her-prime prima donna renowned for her inability to dance, and Bets Malone (one of my consistent favorites) as Maggie Jones, the co-writer and producer of the “Pretty Lady” show the gang is doing.
When the star of this show breaks her leg, the show gets canceled. Well, until our young wannabe star Peggy Sawyer gets her chance to save the show and everybody’s paycheck.
The cast is uniformly excellent, as are the orchestra and chorus ably led by Dr. Randi Rudolph. And the sets are terrific, often of the two-level variety well handled by the stagehands, who also deserve applause here.
You don’t see tap dancing much anymore, and if you’re not a fan, look for a show with more up-to-date story and more modern dance styles. My date got a little impatient with “all that tap,” but the audience seemed to love it, as did I.
The details
“42nd Street” plays through Sept. 2, 2023 at Moonlight Amphitheatre, Brengle Park, 1250 Vale Terrace Drive in Vista.
Shows at 8 p.m. Wed-Sun. nights
Ticket prices: $18-63 with additional general lawn discounts for seniors, students and the military.
Tickets: (760) 724-2110 or moonlightstage.com
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