Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 8, 1991 TAG: 9103080596
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRIS GLADDEN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
By Webber standards, it's small in scale, almost intimate. But it bears many of the trademarks of the immensely popular English writer of mega-hit musicals. Its lyrics are clever and its tunes are ingratiating and it's facile and high concept, a bright and shining surface.
That's not to diminish Branch's achievement, however: She brings heart and soul and conviction in both her singing and acting to the role of Emma.
Emma is an English fashion designer who comes to New York, where she immediately breaks up with her boyfriend, a musician.
What follows is a chronicle of Emma's relationships. She's whisked off to Los Angeles by a movie producer. There, in the land of Caesar salads and capped teeth and perfect tans, Emma is immersed in a life of boredom.
She returns to New York where she falls in love with a Nebraska software salesman, a genuine American from the heartland. However, he's afraid of commitment and he ends the romance, inflicting much pain on Emma.
Next follows a married man from the suburbs. By this time, Emma has become cynical and callous and not above using people.
Almost incidentally, Webber informs us that Emma has become an overnight designing success. Apparently, she found time to squeeze in a career between love affairs.
During the entire first act and part of the second, Branch holds the stage alone, telling the story of Emma completely through song. It's a commanding and assured performance.
High concept goes into overdrive in the second act. It tells the story of the Nebraskan's various romances and setbacks in New York entirely through dance. Get it, song and dance? Tim Toler plays the Nebraskan, and the whole ensemble, as choreographed by Patsy Castellano, handles itself well on Showtimers' small stage.
The orchestra at Thursday's opening got off to a tentative start, but seemed to warm to the material as the show progressed.
At heart, "Song and Dance" is kind of corny, a show about two people losing themselves and each other in the big city and then regaining what they lost. But under the tight direction of Susan Brugh and with a standout performance by Branch, it's a story entertainingly told.
"Song and Dance" plays Thursdays through Sundays through March 24 at the Studio Theater on McVitty Road off of Virginia 419. For times and reservations, call 774-2660.
by CNB