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CRITICS RAVE for THE ALL NIGHT STRUT!

"Think of it this way: It's a 1940s USO dance hall extravaganza full of lindy-hoppers; it's a smoky jazz club of almost any vintage; it's a Latin dance party with more sizzle than a jalapeno; it's "42nd Street," the Cirque du Soleil, "Stomp!" and a hip-hop competition all rolled into one; and on top of everything else, it's a riff on that hit TV series "Dancing With the Stars.""

"Yes, all this in one faster-than-the-speed-of-light two-hour show -- a crazy, metabolism-boosting danceathon-with-vocals that opened Wednesday night at the Marriott Theatre bearing the misleadingly nostalgia-tinged title "The All Night Strut! (A Fascinatin' Rhythm).""

"Based on a revue by Fran Charnas that dreamily charted the mood in America as it moved through the rich songbook of the 1930s and '40s… the piece now has been almost totally transformed by director-choreographer Marc Robin and his team (including co-conceiver Aaron Thielen), so that it moves like an express train bound for this very moment."

"The whole thing is now far more of a Las Vegas-style spectacle in a variety-show state of mind than a standard-issue Broadway revue. But Robin has given each of the individual segments a great snap, crackle and pop, even generating some real dramatic heat along the way. And he gets loads of help from his six highly creative musical arrangers; a group of "specialty" dance choreographers; a corps of dancers who might just be breaking aerobics records; a group of singers who swing, swing, swing, and a band (several of whose fine musicians even brave the stage) that matches them beat for beat."

"He also has threaded all the pieces of this dance quilt together with Coda (deft work by Matt Schwader), the sort of naughtily zany and graceful Cirque-like clown guide you either love or want to hit with a cream pie."

"The show ends with a flashy reprise of "Lullaby of Broadway," but there is nothing "sleepy" about this or any other part of this high-octane entertainment engine."

-Hedy Weiss-
Chicago Sun-Times
December 8, 2006

 

“At the top of Marc Robin and Aaron Thielen's radical, eye-popping retooling of "All Night Strut," a postmodern clown shows up in a spotlight. For anyone familiar with what used to be a small-cast, cheap-but-serviceable revue of musical standards from the 1930s and 1940s, this is one heck of a surprise. It feels as if Cirque du Soleil has invaded the USO."

"It's largely intentional. With the blessing of the original creator, Fran Charnas (who put this affair together some 30 years ago for a show in Cleveland), Thielen and Robin have expanded — or, more accurately, exploded — this tired revue well beyond its original dimension and period."

"Instead of a cast of four, we get almost six times that many, with dancers coming and going in successive waves. Instead of some light jitterbugging along with the be-bop song stylings, we get a veritable plethora of choreographic treatments, from swing to hip-hop to actual acrobatic aerialists. Every song in the show, it seems, has been rearranged. Even that World War II classic "The White Cliffs of Dover" gets the kind of breathy electronic treatment one more readily associates with club remixes of 1970s ballads from Barry Manilow or Donna Summer."

"This whole affair is the work of an unusually large creative team. Robin had help from four "specialty" choreographers and six musical arrangers. Surely, the Marriott never has produced a more eclectic show, with all the inherent pluses and minuses of that tricky adjective."

"Within their own frames, these vignettes offer an ample reminder of Robin's considerable gifts in the field of narrative choreography. His swing sequence oozes sensual nonchalance, especially from the terrific Christopher Windom and Lisa Rumbauskas, and the Broadway tap sequence clatters along with an infectious spirit that lets the audience in on the celebration of a familiar story. The piece is uniformly well-performed. The four singers (Susie McMonagle, Susan Moniz, Jim Weitzer and Stephen Schellhardt) do top-drawer work, exhaling new excitement (helped by the fresh arrangements) into such classics as "A Nightingale Sang" or "Coming in on a Wing and a Prayer.""


-Chris Jones-
Chicago Tribune
December 8, 2006

"You know a show’s a hit when the audience can’t bear even an intermission."

"The announcement of a break between the first and second act of Wednesday’s opening of the very entertaining “All Night Strut” elicited groans from the Marriott Theatre audience. But those groans put smiles on the faces of Marc Robin and Aaron Thielen, the creative team responsible for retooling and reviving Fran Charnas’ music and dance salute to the 1930s and ’40s... Their rousing revival of Charnas’ show...so delighted the crowd they didn’t want to let it go, not even for 15 minutes."

"Strut establishes itself as a dance show early with an athletic, acrobatic version of “In the Mood” and a jazzy, ragtime “Minnie the Moocher” (featuring a seductive Allison Stodola). “Nightmare” an engrossing dance number notable for Sasha Vargas’ modern, hard-edged, choreography, was an unexpected surprise as was Sylvia Hernandez-DiStasi’s elegant Cirque du Soleil-inspired aerial choreography that left audience gasping. The show concluded with an extended riff on “Fascinating Rhythm” that incorporated a taptastic solo by Billy Reeder, a sexy, Latin showstopper featuring Beverly Durand and Mark Stuart Eckstein, “Stomp” inspired moves and a hip-hop number featuring Vargas’ urban cool choreography set to Michael D. Carlson’s house-inspired arrangement."

"Dance dominated, but swing, big band and pop standards figured prominently in the show, which benefits from soloists Susie McMonagle, Susan Moniz, Stephen Schellhardt and Jim Weitzer, who together form an exceptional, well-balanced quartet... Thanks to McMonagle, Moniz, Schellhardt and Weitzer, “Strut’s” music resonates as vividly as its dance. Their lush, playful “Java Jive”; Weitzer’s dreamy “A Nightingale Sang in Barkley Square” (with a lovely pas de deux from Joe Komara and Lisa Rumbauskas); Moniz and Schellhardt’s touching “I’ll Be Seeing You”; and McMonagle’s comic turn as “Rosie the Riveter” and her sassy lead on “Operator” send audiences away from the theater tapping their toes and humming the tunes."

-Barbara Vitello-
Daily Herald
December 8, 2006

 

“If you are looking for something that will warm you up during these very cold ( did I say VERY), all you need do is take a ride up to The Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire for their new musical version of "The All Night Strut", an explosive evening of song and dance conceived by Artistic Director Aaron Thielen and Choreographer Marc Robin. For those of you who read me on a regular basis, you know that when the name Marc Robin appears anywhere, you are in for a treat-  and this is indeed a magical production filled with songs from the 30's and 40's combining Hip-Hop, Modern, Swing, Latin and of course a little ballet and dynamite tap into a show that will leave you wanting more. In fact, the only part of the show that was a let down for the audience was the fact that it ended. They wanted more, much more. From the very start, when Matt Schwader takes the stage as the mime, a role that he really seemed to enjoy and have fun with and does his magic (great lighting by Diane Williams) and we are treated to the musical solos of Billy Rogers, Nick Moran, Brent Turney and Robert Lustrea, you know you are in for a special evening and it just gets better."

"The ensemble is smashing with dancers that amaze with some of the steps and movements. I have always said that Marriott finds the best young talent and this production proves my point- they are great!  One cannot help but leave the theater in a great mood, humming and dancing and as I said, wanting more.”

-Alan Bresloff-
Theatre Critic
December 8, 2006