We went to see the latest offering in our season ticket series at the Marriott Lincolnshire Theater – and like many times before went in not knowing what to expect, and came out smiling.
“All Night Strut” is a revue – it’s one of those pastiche shows with a lot of songs, a lot of dancing, and no plot, story, or structure to get in the way. It’s framed by vignettes with a clown figure called “Coda,” who introduces the show, plays around with lights, music, and dancers, and gets up to gently amusing mischief.
Here’s a picture of Coda, as played by Matt Schwader. He grows on you, although the “new circus” schtick seems a little “seen it before” at first.
He’s pretty funny, and when the dancing numbers begin to seem all of a muchness, there’s always Coda at the end of the set to make you laugh. After a while, his mostly wordless act seems more like a universal language of playfulness and delight, and he just makes you happy to see him. He dances a little, as well. Singing, not so much a mime’s big talent.
The dance routines follow a chronological order, more or less – this show didn’t really cover the styles of musical comedy dance from the 20’s, and the 30’s are covered by a jazzy/bluesy version of Minnie the Moocher with a real hoochy-coocher.
Also in this show was a chorus dancer who was drop-dead gorgeous and also hugely talented. His name was Ven Daniel, and from the moment he took the stage he was just amazing. There’s not many guys who could do the Lindy hop, jitterbug, throw little female dancers all over the place without actually dropping them, and then do a hot Latin number every night (and twice on Sundays). That is, unless you are
very talented, very fit, and look like this:
As I told a couple of people, that’s not just a six-pack Mr. Daniel sports, it’s a half-rack. Aesthetics aside, he’s an extremely talented, very physical dancer and he blew everybody else away with the exception of the fellow that did the big tap dance extravaganza. And yes, a friend of mine and I were both very happy that he did the Latin number with his shirt completely unbuttoned.
It’s a very enjoyable show, and the Marriott has room rate discounts and dinner packages available, so see it if you can before it closes on February 11th.