REVIEW: ORIGINAL MUSICAL, "TAKE THE LEAD," DANCES INTO YOUR HEART AT THE PAPER MILL PLAYHOUSE!

By Ruth Ross

Okay, I’ll ‘fess up: Watching ballroom dancing reality shows on television—Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance, for example—is my guilty pleasure. I recall being delighted during my trip to Russia in 1991 to see schoolkids perform the (too sexy) Brazilian dance, the Lambada, alongside the Viennese Waltz and cha-cha!

Thus, I went to the opening night of Paper Mill Playhouse’s newest production, Take the Lead, with high hopes. I am pleased to report that I was not disappointed! (Watch a video HERE)

This tender-hearted, original musical—receiving its World Premiere—recounts the real-life tale of Pierre Dulaine, self-described “foreign homosexual champion ballroom dancer” and founder of Dancing Classrooms, a program that, over three decades, has taught the art to 700,000 students, most in inner city schools, along with Jewish and Palestinian Israeli he taught to “dance with the enemy”!

In this rendition, set in 2002, Dulaine (right, Tam Mutu with the kids) returns the backpack of a young man he encounters to Drake High School in the South Bronx, only to be pressed into service by embattled interim principal, Arianna Rey, to teach “arts” to a class of students of varying academic abilities, backgrounds and ethnicities. When his attempt to teach them classic ballroom dancing elicits scorn and laughter, he decides to meet the kids where they are, having them perform ballroom dancing moves to the hip-hop music they love. From suspicion of the white man with a funny accent (he speaks four languages) and uncertainty about his methods comes respect on both sides and an unleashing of talent that, albeit a bit unorthodox, conveys joy and bestows dignity on these young people so often written off and forgotten as underachievers. (NOTE: The real Pierre Dulaine was in the audience on opening night!)

The musical, directed by Christopher Gattelli, with book by Robert Cary and Jonathan Tolins and music and lyrics by Elliah Heifetz and Zeniba Now, unfolds on a fabulous set designed by Paul Tate DePoo III, that takes us from ballroom competition (in all its spangled splendor) to the dreary classroom of an inner city high school to a subway station platform to a tenement block and back, quickly and smoothly. Tam Mutu’s Pierre Dulaine cuts an elegant, sinuous figure on the dance floor—physical moves matched by his swift understanding about how to reach his charges. His narration breaks the fourth wall and brings us along on his journey to know himself, face his disappointment about where his life is going (a tender number entitled “More Than”) and devise a plan to fulfill a new dream, all while keeping a cool head when the kids bait him; his kindness to individual students is admirable (when he teaches LaRhette to dance in “Let’s Begin). Commanding the stage throughout most of the play’s entire run time, Mutu convincingly conveys Dulaine’s cosmopolitan demeanor and delightful accent.

As Arianna, Adrienne Bailon-Houghton (right, with Mutu) juggles telephones while interviewing Pierre and engages in a mean rap to defend “My Kids.” She’s no pushover, standing up to the School Superintendent Mr. O’Hara (David Jennings), who wants to cut the arts as unneeded for a complete education. She’s a joy to watch whenever she’s onstage, commanding, besieged by bureaucracy, yet possessing a tender heart.

The actors portraying the Drake H.S. kids (left, with Principal Rey) are uniformly talented as they sing and dance in varied styles. Standouts include Vincent Jamal Hooper as Rock, the young man whose lost backpack sets the plot in motion; Savy Jackson as LaRhette, the not-French dreamer studying for her SATs (she performs a mean Ginger Rogers-Fred Astaire number on the subway platform with Rock); and Sequoiia as the kid called Monster, who is surprisingly light on his feet and quite endearing.

Grace Slear is fine as the Upper East Side debutante-to-be who comes to Drake H.S. to “help” Dulaine; her desire to escape the expectations of her mother and her experience with kids less fortunate than she enables her character to grow. Jonalyn Saxer is appropriately snotty as UES dancer Morgan; I wanted to smack her every time she opened her mouth!

Direction by Christopher Gattelli was so smooth and tight that I never looked at my watch once! He, along with Maria Torres and Jennifer Weber, created intricate choreography in classic ballroom and hip-hop—and an amalgam of the two—that is energetically executed by the cast of agile dancers. Weaving interludes of fluid, elegant ballroom dancing through the scenes with the kids reminds us of what Dulaine is trying to teach the kids: to stand erect, to extend arms and legs with grace and to feel proud. He succeeds so well that one of the kids declares that “with dancing we speak the same language”! (Above: Savy Jackson as LaRhette and Vincent Jamal Hooper as Rock perform in the ballroom competition) 

Kudos go to Jen Caprio for the appropriate costumes: grungy punk for the kids, sequined gowns and tuxedos for the ballroom dancers, Dulaine’s exquisitely tailored suit and Arianna’s suits and dresses. Walter Trarbach is to be commended for not making the sound as ear-blasting as it’s often been at the Paper Mill; the lighting by Justin Townsend and Nick Solyom was appropriate to the various venues and atmospheric.

Take the Lead is based upon a 2006 feature film starring Antonio Banderas as Pierre Dulaine. Adapting it to musical theater enriches the plot, from the opening number, a rousing “Watch Me Move,” performed by the entire company to “Leave It on the Floor,” a song that brings the tale full circle, to the delight of the opening night audience.

Take the Lead is a delightful production appropriate for theater-goers aged 12 to 92! The language is tame (a few curse words), the energy palpable, the dancing invigorating; although you may not go home humming the melodies or singing the lyrics, they convey emotions experienced by those onstage and enrich the story line.

Take the Lead will be performed at the Paper Mill Playhouse, 22 Brookside Drive, Millburn, through April 27. Tickets would be a great Easter or Passover gift for you, your family and your friends. For more information and tickets, call the box office at 973.376.4343 or visit www.PaperMill.org online.