Broadway transports audience to jazz age

The Balch Arena was transformed into a 1920's New York nightclub this past weekend with the opening of Broadway, this fall's Drama Department major production about the lives of showgirls, gangsters and detectives. The set, which takes place in backstage of a cabaret, is complete with stairs leading to dressing rooms, a piano, a table strewn with costumes and props, and a manager's office.

Through the elaborate costumes and authentic-sounding early-century New York accents the audience is transported the audience right back into the bootlegging era.

The main character, Roy Lane (Christopher Bonewitz), convincingly portrayed a male cabaret star trying to get discovered by a big agent. His character is honest and funny, and even his conceited nature worked well with his boyish infatuation with one of the showgirls, Billie Moore (played by Julie Azari).

His different costumes, ranging from Uncle Sam to a clown suit complete with a red nose, put a humorous touch on the serious issues explored by his character. His competition for Billie's heart comes from no other than Steve Crandall (Josh Bauml), the bootlegging mob boss who becomes rich from illegally selling alcohol during the Prohibition years.

Bauml deftly portrays the bootlegger's, complete with irascible temper and violent tendencies. The motives behind his romantic interest in Billie are unclear and slightly muddle the love triangle. We never discover what he wants from her, and while we can assume that he represents a threat to her virtue and innocence there's no clear conclusion. It seems sweet, if not predictable, that Billie and Roy end up together both on-stage and off-stage, but the romantic the dynamic between the three characters leaves much to be desired.

Far more convincing are the sharp, contest-of-wills between the gangsters themselves, the nightclub owner Nick (Armen Nercessian), and the detective (Gio Gayner), pursuing all of them. Bauml's Steve successfully comes across as intimidating, arrogant, and clever when towering over his two cronies, Dolph and Porky (Max Dionne and Robert Curry).

The tension in the show rises when Steve murders rival gangster, Scar Edwards (George Rausch), after figuring out that Scar knows too much about his illegal bootlegging activities. Scar, in his light-gray suit and with his sneering, no-nonsense attitude, juxtaposes Steve well _ both successfully represent the bad boys of the Jazz Age.

The hard-boiled language of the showgirls serves as a strong contrast with Billie's the innocent and na??ve nature. The jaded, cigarette-smoking, ensemble with their short skirts and quick-tempers, provided another source of humor and nostalgia, and in many scenes were preferable to Billie's sweetness, which was cloying at times.

Overall, the characters were somewhat generic and one-dimensional, yet this worked Broadway. The show tries to be a commentary on the 1920's in America rather than analysis of individual characters. The plot is the least strong element of the play, lacking in originality and devoid of elements of surprise. The realistic setting, the creative costumes, the authentic dialogue and the excellent acting made Broadway an enjoyable experience in time travel.