ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Friday, June 21, 1996                  TAG: 9606210006
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 1    EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ALESSANDRA SOLER STAFF WRITER 

A MUSICAL CLASSIC FORGET ABOUT THE PLOT; THE SONGS AND THE DANCING ARE WHAT MATTER MOST IN 'CRAZY FOR YOU'

In an effort to rediscover the classic American musical, Mill Mountain Theatre will retell Ken Ludwig's old-fashioned love story, "Crazy For You," integrating the cast's wildly inventive tap-dancing and singing skills into a production the group is proud to call its own.

The award-winning George Gershwin musical, directed by Jere Lee Hodgin and David Caldwell, opens tonight at 8 p.m. and will run on the main stage at the Center in the Square through July14.

"It's one of the strongest casts we've ever had here," said Doug Patterson, who plays the small part of British travel writer Eugene Fodor. "Everyone up from [stars] Drew and Elizabeth all the way down to the ensemble is great."

Roanoke native Elizabeth Dressler, 25, plays the lead role of Polly, the only girl in the small mining town of Deadrock, Nev. "Because this character tends to be misunderstood, I wanted to make sure that didn't happen," Dressler explained. "She's not an angry person. She's a happy person, but her life is such that she has to be loud and aggressive to be heard. At first glance you see her and she's strong ... but deep down all she wants is to fall in love."

Dressler, who moved from New York to Los Angeles last year in hopes of making it in the television and film industry, said that although Polly is quite different from other characters she's played, it's one of her best roles in musical theater. "Normally I play these very sweet, demure characters," Dressler said. "Polly's feisty and strong, but still feminine. You can really sink your teeth into the character. Peggy Sawyer [the main character in "42nd Street"] went from being very sweet and naive to being a chorus girl. Polly's not necessarily interested in becoming a star."

The newly found man of her dreams, Bobby Child, played by 36-year-old Drew Geraci, shows up in the worn-out town after leaving the high-class glitz of New York. But there's a catch: He's come to close down the Deadrock theater, which sits on property his mother owns. Polly's father runs the theater, and has been struggling to keep up with his mortgage payments.

And so the love story goes - Bobby falls in love with Polly, forgets about his fiance back home, and arranges to put on a show with a group of buddies from New York in a last-minute attempt to save the theater.

"It's a lot of fun, but at the same time to put up this kind of show in 31/2 weeks has been a huge challenge for all of us," said Geraci, who directed last year's "Forever Plaid."

"Personally, this role is a lot more complex because I actually play Bobby and another character, Bella Zangler."

Travel writer Fodor and his sister Patricia also are caught up in the moment and decide to stay in Deadrock and help save the theater.

"They end up being the ones trying to get the show back on," Patterson said. "They do the whole, very British thing - accent and all. It's interesting; luckily I've done it before."

Michelle Bennett, Mill Mountain's marketing assistant, said the boy-meets-girl plot is typical of 1930s musicals. "The story is a very small part of this show," she said. "It's basically about getting from one song and dance number to the next and, of course, that's how musicals from this period all were. It's just one fantastic number after another."

Choreographer Craig North added his distinctive style to the original tap dances from Broadway, giving the production - with a cast of 30 - a unique touch.

Sets are designed by John Sailer and costumes by Mitch Baker. Guest lighting designer is John Wolf.

``Crazy for You'' At the Mill Mountain Theatre at Center in the Square in downtown Roanoke. For reservations, call 342-5740, (800) 317-6455, or TDD 224-1215.

LENGTH: Medium:   81 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  ERIC BRADY/Staff. 1. "The story is a very small part of 
          this show," Mill Mountain marketing assistant Michelle Bennett said 
          about "Crazy for You." "It's basically about getting from one song 
          and dance number to the next...."
          2. Roanoke native Elizabeth Dressler rehearses the lead role of 
          Polly for tonight's opening of ``Crazy for You'' at Mill Mountain 
          Theatre. "Polly's feisty and strong, but still feminine," Dressler 
          says. 3. Members of the
          ``Crazy for You'' cast peek through a door frame during reheasal. 
          color.
 by CNB