Review: Totem Pole's 'Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks'
When an audience applauds even the stage hands, it should be a good sign, right?
In the case of the Totem Pole Playhouse’s production of “Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks,” oh, heck, yeah.
The play on the surface is about a formidable retired school teacher and widow of a Baptist minister, Lily Harrison, who hires an acid-tongued dance instructor, Michael Minetti, to give her private dance lessons - one per week for six weeks - in her gulf-front condo in St. Petersburg Beach, Florida.
Sounds simple enough.
Woven through the wise-cracks (“Our relationship improved considerably once he died…”) aside, Sic Days touches on human frailty, relationships, the pain humans inflict on one another, how and why we dance, and death itself.
Just when the audience thinks its collective heart will break, the playwright, Richard Alfieri, saves the day with comic relief.
To the stew of a meaty and artful script add veteran and honored actors Loretta Swit, who has moved way beyond Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan of TV’s M*A*S*H, and Broadway and Off-Broadway star David Engel, you’ve got something that will grab a handful of heartstrings and run till the lights dim for the final time.
Not to give away too much, audiences are conditioned to ignore the stage hands moving stuff around on stage between scenes. Don’t do that in this production. Mikaela Acton and Ben Dennis are almost a separate mime show on their own.
Chambersburg’s Annie Marzollo, 19, said she really enjoyed the performance.
“I like how they talked about really serious things, but at the same time kept it sweet and funny. I loved it,” she said.
“Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks” The comedy will run at the playhouse from May 27 through June 12. The show is sponsored by M & T Bank and Ludwick Eye Center. Showdates are:
- 2 p.m. Sunday, MAY 29
- 2 p.m. Tuesday, May 31
- 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 1
- 8 p.m. Thursday, June 2
- 8 p.m. Friday, June 3
- 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday, June 4
- 2 p.m. Sunday, June 5
- 2 p.m. Tuesday, June 7
- 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 8
- 8 p.m. Thursday, June 9
- 8 p.m. Friday, June 10
- 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday, June 11
- 2 p.m. Sunday, June 12
Totem Pole Playhouse, Pennsylvania’s premiere summer theatre located in Caledonia State Park between Gettysburg and Chambersburg, PA
For the third year in a row Totem Pole will also offer any unsold seats one-half hour before each curtain for $10 each to anyone 16 to 22 with a valid driver’s license or ID.
Totem Pole will also offer two preview performances the first Friday evening and Saturday matinee of each subscription season production with all seats priced at $20. Tickets may be purchased online or by calling the box office.