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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels September 21, 2004 Cabaret Theatre's latest provides a fun romp to a bygone TV era By Roberta Kent Tidings Reviewer Remember TV variety shows from the 50s, 60s, 70s? Remember the bouncy music, the kooky banter, those great costumes? The Oregon Cabaret Theatre certainly does. The shows were often hosted by a married "duo." Steve and Eydie. Sonny and Cher. Robert Goulet and Carol Lawrence. There was always a bit of racy gossip in the viewing - how did their body language signal what was really going on in the marriage? Were the rumors true? "Pete 'n' Keely," by James Hindman, with original music by Patrick Brady and lyrics by Mark Waldrop, is a tongue-in-cheek reprise of all that. It's 1968 and the couple's former sponsor, Swell shampoo, presents them "live" in a TV "reunion special." The announcer is also pleased to tell us that they are "getting along just great - in spite of what you read in the tabloids." And off we go. From the opening upbeat "It's Us Again," we are treated to a melodic memory tour of Pete (Gregg Preston) and Keely's (Susannah Mars) ambitious beginnings, triumphs, career decline and painful divorce. We learn that she was too fond of the bottle; he was too susceptible to pretty young girls. It's now five years since the split - has the spark really died? Along the way, we get bits and pieces of all the familiar musical styles of the era. We get jazzy harmony in "This Could Be the Start of Something Big." We get overproduced theme spots (you will not believe what can be done to "The Battle Hymn of the Republic") Pete gets his Las Vegas lounge act in "Fever." Keely gets her torch song in "Black Coffee." They both get a bit of Kander and Ebb in "Tony and Cleo." And we get a rollicking good time. Preston, who bears an uncanny resemblance to the young Robert Goulet, brings a mellow voice, an easy charm and a great deal of grace to the role of the "straight guy." This is his debut at OCT and he arrives with an extensive list of Seattle credits. Mars, who comes to the Cabaret with her own long list credits from Seattle and Portland, has an extraordinary vocal range. She also has the dramatic ability to show us Keely's energy as well as her ambition and petulance. The two actors are a good match and it shows onstage. The production has been directed and choreographed with much wit and by OCT's Managing Artistic Director Jim Giancarlo. The on-stage "orchestra" is Darcy Danielson (with a spiffy new short hairdo) on piano, Jim Malachi on percussion and Bruce McKern on bass. Danielson is also the musical director. This is a show where the costumes are the third star on stage. Legendary designer Bob Mackie did the costumes for the original off-Broadway production of "Pete 'n' Keely" in 2000 and Giancarlo was able to rent them for this OCT gig. If you saw television or musical theater in the 60s and 70s, you saw costumes by Mackie. All his feathers, beads, boas, paillettes, bell-bottom trousers, opulent silk linings to tux jackets that matched the ladies' gowns - in other words, all the clich�s of glitz and glamour - make their appearance in the show, along with the era's bouffant hairdos on Keely and sideburns and moustache on Pete. (Thank you, wig designer Victoria King.) Variety shows were the television networks' "reality shows" of the era. They were cheaper than a series for the networks to produce. They had a predictable format and yet had the flexibility to book topical guests. They created stars of singers that would have otherwise made their careers in cabarets or lounges and virtually fashioned the entertainment palate of today's Las Vegas. They were succeeded, first, by the rapid fire format of "Laugh-In" and then by the satire of "Saturday Night Live." But, oh my, while they lasted, they sure were fun. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams