When talented young hopeful Ruby arrives in New York City with nothing but a pair of tap shoes in her suitcase, she is determined to break into show business. She stumbles into the cast of troubled show “Dames at Sea”, in which broke and pessimistic producer Hennesey is terrorized by Mona Kent, the aggressive, seductive, and surprisingly shady leading lady. Ruby seems to be in luck, as she makes a friend in clever chorus girl Joan, and falls in love with Dick, a singing sailor with songwriting ambitions, who just happens to be from her own hometown of Centerville, Utah. But things take a turn for the worse when Mona sets her sights -- and her claws -- on Dick, and Hennesey loses the theatre, which is promptly bulldozed out from under the cast and crew. Can Dick and his pal Lucky save the show by producing it on their battleship? Will the reluctant Captain be persuaded by Mona Kent, who just happens to be his tropical fling from long ago? Will Ruby go out there a chorus girl, but come back a star? The answer is a resounding yes in Dames at Sea, a light, bright, and hilariously tuneful homage to the glamorous and hopeful movie musicals of the 1930s. The sweet and salty script, full of wisecracks and vintage slang, is by George Haimsohn and Robin Miller, and the light and bubbly score, with music by Jim Wise, features the rousing “Good Times are Here to Stay,” the ridiculous tropical romance of “The Beguine,” and the delicate melancholy of “Raining in My Heart.” Dames at Sea received a Broadway revival in 2015.
Note: Cast size for Dames at Sea is flexible, as it can be performed with as few as 6 actors (3 M, 3 F), or with a full dancing and singing ensemble of chorus girls and sailor boys.
Dames at Sea guide sections
