Review: 'Steel Pier' by Waterbury Arts Magnet School

Waterbury, CT - Waterbury Arts Magnet School presented the musical ‘Steel Pier’ on the stage of Waterbury’s elegant Palace Theater for four performances this past weekend and wrapped up the run with a show for students on Monday. Bruce Post directed the students from the middle and high school and WAMS principal Lauren Elias was the show’s producer.

Mr. Post shared in his director’s note that in his teaching career he has never experienced so much disruption from Mother Nature than he did for this production. They lost 39 hours of rehearsal time due to weather-related cancellations. He goes on to thank the cast for working so hard to make the show happen. “The work shows, and that’s all a director can ask,” he adds.

I wanted to like this show that was new to me. After all, Kristin Chenoweth made her Broadway debut as Precious in the 1977 production that ran for 76 performances. I just had issues with the plot, that which I could follow at least. There was some very good choreography, although I wasn’t sure how some of it fit in, or even if it was supposed to. This is not to say that the students, especially those with leading roles, did not give fine performances. They worked very hard to relieve the monotony of a never ending dance marathon.

I reached out to John Fabbri, a community theatre actor that I respect, who told me that he had seen ‘Steel Pier’ on Broadway. He felt that the show would not be an easy undertaking for a community theater or school group because even though it is constantly in motion, it is also very sedentary. The dance marathon itself does not lend itself to varied movement, so it could easily get a bit monotonous. I agree with him on this point, so kudos to Mr. Post and the WAMS students for taking on something different.

Mr. Fabbri added that Kristin Chenoweth used her legitimate voice and she was sensational; I would expect nothing less from her in her Broadway debut.This community actor and teacher found the characters colorful and interesting, and he thought the time period was well represented on the Broadway stage. This was a bit difficult for the students to pull off on the large Palace stage, but they certainly did their best. Mr. Fabbri told me that what he liked best was the variety of characterizations displayed in the show; because all of the roles had to be played by teen-aged WAMS student, some of this variety was probably lost.

Congratulations to this large cast on their fine acting and singing. Julia Rocchio worked her magic onstage in the leading role of Rita Racine, billed as an aging celebrity, once famously know as ‘Lindy’s Lovebird’ for being the first woman to kiss Lindbergh when he returned from France. She wants desperately for this dance marathon to be her last. It is revealed that she is secretly married to the dance marathon emcee/user Mick Hamilton (played with appropriate meanness by Vincent Dadamo.) Bill Kelly, a stunt pilot with limited time left on earth, was played well by the always excellent Michael Ramalho (Seymour in ‘Little Shop of Horrors.’)

Justin Ramos played Mick’s shady sidekick Mr. Walker and Victoria Bierce, Dania Fedrick and Gianna Viele played singers “Mick’s Picks.” Shannaya Rodriguez was Shelby Stevens, a former cook in a lumber camp who knows how to get around. The Chenoweth role of Precious was ably played by Brianna Crespo and Eric Canfield was her husband named “Happy McGuire.” I kid you not. These struggling young newlyweds hail from Utah.

Richard Rosa was Olympic wrestler Johnny Adel, Jessica Romaniello was one-time socialite Dora Foster, Kaitlyn-Jo Cocchiola was Betty Baker and Tyler Nizzardo was her brother Buddy, the two a vaudeville team. Angel Llanos played harmonica virtuoso Luke Adams, Jordan Vaughn was Dom Misiano, Sophia Dadamo was Hannah Misiano and Thomas Hutchinson was Sonny. I honestly had to look up most of those characters to get their backstory because the script was less than clear.

The dance chorus of dancers from the various grades at WAMS had to play those dance marathon dancers and their weariness was probably real by the end. The partners danced well, with some girls playing male dancers. Their costumes ranged from very nice to ill-fitting. Several girls would have benefited from the correct underpinnings for their gowns.

I would recognize the back of the head of TJ Thompson anywhere and I was pleasantly surprised to see him conducting the fine group of musicians in the pit. Mr. Fabbri told me that he is a fan of Kander and Ebb, so he appreciated the music in the Broadway production. I found the score pleasant, if not particularly memorable, but Mr. Thompson made it sound its best.

The choreography was done by Kelsey Eggleton, Jordan Vaughn, Brianna Urso, Syleste Arroyo and Kiara Holmes. Steven Sudell designed the set and the wonderful Charles Machokas served as technical director. Tom Stroeher oversaw the lighting design and the stage crew was kept busy with lots of set moves.