UMT stirs up frothy fun with 'Dames' and 'Two'

"DAMES AT SEA" (running time: 120 minutes, one intermission), "TWO BY TWO" (running time: 150 minutes (one intermission), UTAH MUSICAL THEATRE, Browning Center, Weber State University, Ogden, in repertory through Aug. 5 (626-8500 or 800-978-8457).

OGDEN — Two oceanic Broadway musicals — one that originally starred Danny Kaye and the other a campy send-up of musicals in general — are the flagship productions (as it were) for Utah Musical Theatre's 2006 season. Both family-friendly shows have small ensembles of eight performers in each, with six performers having roles in both productions.

• "DAMES AT SEA" is a parody of those old-fashioned, nearly plotless musical films from the 1930s. If it were any campier, the National Park Service would be involved.

There's a fresh-scrubbed girl right off the bus from Centerville, Utah (yes, that's in the original script), who's determined to become a Broadway star. Her battered little suitcase contains her only possession: a pair of tap shoes.

In quick succession she auditions for a show already starring an overbearing diva (with a tarnished past), and she falls madly in love with a sailor who writes snappy Broadway songs at the drop of a clever lyric. (Oh, he's also from Centerville, of course.)

The plot is as silly as most of the songs, but it all ads up to two hours of frivolous, frothy fun.

The cast, directed by Bruce Cohen and choreographed by Brian Paul Mendoza, is by far stronger than the material — Teresa Bramwell as tantrum-throwing headliner Mona Kent; Erin Hunt as Ruby, the Utah girl (who ultimately steals the show); Paul Cheney as Dick, the Broadway-obsessed sailor; Brad Shelton as Dick's Navy buddy, Lucky; Vanessa Cheney as Joan, a dancer who befriends Ruby; and Robert Anthony Jones in the dual roles of stage producer Hennesey and the Navy battleship captain.

In true the-show-must-go-on tradition, the first act is set in a Broadway theater about to be razed, and the second act has the show moving to Dick and Lucky's ship, docked nearby.

Van Tinkham's scenery and Macy Perrone's period costuming add to the fun and games.

• "TWO BY TWO" is 1970 musical-comedy approach to the story of Noah and the Ark, with music by Richard Rodgers (far better known for such shows as "Oklahoma!" and "The King and I") and lyrics by Martin Charnin ("Annie," among others).