Don't Miss Backwards in High Heels at the Westchester Broadway Theatre

Backwards in High Heels at the Westchester Broadway Theatre is wonderful stage entertainment.

This is a very real and engaging play based on the true-life triumphs and troubles of dancer/actress Ginger Rogers (nee Virginia Katharine McMath) and its great to see dance given at least as equal attention as song in a Broadway musical.

Backwards in High Heels is not just an excuse to cram into a stage performance a bunch of old and familiar songs or amazing dances from the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movies of yesteryear. Rogers appeared in ten movies with Fred Astaire (nine before moving on to an independent film career) and earned an Academy Award for portraying Kitty Foyle in the movie of the same name in 1940.

The show’s choreography by Jeremy Benton and his assistant Amy Van Norstrand deserves special credit. With their able guidance, Darien Crago excels in her dance routines from the Charleston (Rogers won a contest at age 15 in her home town of Fort Worth, Texas) to tap dancing (even in bed) to ball room dancing. Benton also plays Fred Astaire and is just back from playing the lovable chimney cleaner Bert in a production of Mary Poppins at The Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma.

Tap dancing on the Westchester Broadway Theatre stage has been an audience pleaser before.

Who can forget the awesome, show-stopping, tap dancing ensemble in Guys and Dolls? — the show was performed two years ago at the Westchester Broadway Theatre.

First act

The first act of Backwards in High Heels, exactly one-hour in length, is concerned mostly with a 15-year-old girl who dances with her teddy bear and could dance before she could walk. She is convinced that, “I can do anything I set my mind to — just watch me.” Great 1930s tunes vocalized in this act include Fascinating Rhythm, A Fine Romance, I Got Rhythm (Ethel Merman is played by Avital Asuleen and she inspires the youthful beginner Ginger Rogers), Embraceable You, and We’re in the Money.

Rogers’ first and unsuccessful introduction to love and romance is with fellow performer Jack Culpepper — it ends in a predictable disaster just as her mother Lela Owens (played by Erika Amato) expects but is powerless to prevent. The first act could have moved a wee bit faster in plot development but it does set the stage for the fast-paced second act as Rogers moves confidently ahead with her career.

Second act

The second-act songs include: They All Laughed, Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off, Change Partners, Shall We Dance, and You’ll Never Know.

Pia Haas points out in the show program guide that the musical takes its title from a quote in a 1982 cartoon about Astaire and Rodgers that was accompanied by the comment, “Sure he was great, but don’t forget that Ginger Rogers did everything he did — backwards and in high heels.”

Rogers appeared in 73 movies and at the age of 74, directed her first stage musical, Babes in Arms, at the Tarrytown Music Hall.

Backwards in High Heels first appeared in 2007 at a theater in West Palm Beach, Florida. It runs until September 20, 2015 and will be followed by Showboat, beginning on September 24. Ticket prices include lunch or dinner and range from $56 to $84 plus tax depending on the performance chosen. Call 914-592-2222 for reservations or go to website: www.broadwaytheatre.com.

The Westchester Broadway Theatre is located at 1 Broadway Plaza, Elmsford, NY.

Photo: Darien Crago (Ginger Rogers) and Jeremy Benton (Fred Astaire).

Photo by John Vecchiolla