There's always something unsettling about musicals based on the music of such-and-such. Often, these musicals--think Mamma Mia based on the music of Abba, Movin' Out based on the music of Billy Joel, and Times They Are A'Changin based on the music of Bob Dylan--tell stories only tangentially related to the music. They are made to draw on the songwriters' popularity and fill theater seats. Thus, they are very close to being campy, almost bordering on parody of the writers' work. Sometimes this works. Mamma Mia is successful because it embraced the camp, and didn't take itself very seriously. Even in the film version, serious actors like Meryl Streep look like they are having a lot of fun playing unrealistic, one-dimensional characters. The music seems to drive the story, even though we know it was created the other way around.Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies, playing in its final two weeks at the Arena Stage at the Lincoln Theatre, falls squarely in the camp category resulting in varying degrees of success. A self-described celebration of Duke Ellington's career and influence on America, it features musical acts from all stages of his career, along with the appropriate dance style. So early on, a piece with both scantily clad male and female dancers mimics the jungle themed cabaret acts of the 1920's. Later, during the jitterbug period, we see a white couple slowly learning to jitterbug with the help of some skilled black couples. The white couple is exhausted at the end, collapsing on the stage floor. Throughout the musical acts, there's a lot of sexual innuendo with whether it's a woman dancer sandwiched between two male dancers, or a male dancer miming sniffing at a female dancer's butt. At one point, Ellington's character (Maurice Hines) receives four pecks from one of the female dancers. "Very continental, darling," he says, "But why four?" "One for each cheek" she responds, winking at the crowd. All of this is tastefully done, hearkening back to an era when live shows were the only place to publicly enjoy such titillation.
At the same time, dance is the only stimulation Sophisticated Ladies has to offer. The show is one musical act after another. I spent the first thirty minutes waiting for a plot to emerge, and the next thirty coming to terms with the fact that there isn't going to be any plot. We are basically introduced to the entire cast through the first four numbers. There's a glamorous singer, young upstart dancers, a woman vying for a man's attention, and the Duke himself. But these roles shift throughout the production. The only consistent character is Duke Ellington. His "sophisticated ladies" consist of eight women, none of whose relationship to Duke is clearly defined. We just know that many of them pine for him, but he has trouble being faithful. Of course, this isn't a real problem that the audience care about; it's merely a vehicle for songs like "Mood Indigo Blues" and "In My Solitude."
Once I got over the missing plot, I was able to relax and enjoy the dance numbers. The unexpected highlight was the tap dancing. The show actually drew on local talent for many of the tap numbers, which left a strong message for the importance of arts education. Last night's performance was a neighborhood affair in other ways as well. There was the coming full circle aspect of a musical about Duke Ellington performed in Duke Ellington's city of birth. Maurice Hines also took many opportunities to speak to the audience directly during a number of tap scenes. Even the audience, consisting of blacks and whites alike, reflected DC better than the usual Northwest DC affair. One can see how this crowd pleaser--despite its lack of cerebral content--was held over to June 6 by popular demand.