See it if You love tapping and dance-oriented shows. The show is just cute and fluffy.
Don't see it if You are looking for character development or plot. The show is very cutesy.
See it if You want a light hearted good show.
Don't see it if You don't like a lot of dancing.
See it if You enjoy satire.
Don't see it if you hate tap dancing!
See it if You enjoy tap dance and classic showtunes. Hilarious scene stealing from Lesli Margherita. Closed way too soon.
Don't see it if You're looking for something serious or thought provoking.
See it if you love dancing! This is a dance show for any lover of amazing choreography and fun performances from all the actors!
Don't see it if you don't like dance shows. There's not much to the story. It's all in the dancing.
See it if you love old-school, all singin', all dancin' types of shows. There is some great tapping in this and Lesli Margherita is a hoot!
Don't see it if you have no sense of nostalgia and only like huge productions with helicopters & chandeliers.
See it if you enjoy sailors tap dancing - I mean who doesn't love sailors dancing!
Don't see it if you're looking for high brow theatre - this is a fun, tappy musical. 2 hours of solid entertainment.
See it if you love tap dance and love good campy fun!
Don't see it if you don't like tap dance.
"Deconstruct a Busby Berkeley movie musical and you have the loose two hours of light-heartedness that is 'Dames at Sea.' In this spoof of old Broadway, a dedicated cast of six top notch hoofers fight the good fight; tapping, belting and mugging their way through a book that ranges from predictable to corny to borderline misogynistic. Tomatoes, here, are not the kind that grow on vines, but there’s a lot of squeezing going on nonetheless."
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"'Dames At Sea' proves that bigger (and newer) isn’t always better. This charming little show is a star bright enough to outshine some of its flashier neighbors on the Great White Way."
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"Those who love lots of tap dancing, old-fashioned tunes, and a touch of camp get down to the Helen Hayes Theatre on the double…These three young performers are all fine singers and remarkable dancers – you’ll gasp as they execute director Randy Skinner’s breathtaking (and breathless) choreographers – but they do lack a bit of star power…Lesli Margherita continues to steal scene after scene with her deliberately scenery-chewing and often hilarious antics."
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"'Dames at Sea' is throwback theatre...It’s got nothing on its mind other than enjoying itself at the expense of a harmless cultural shibboleth. It breaks no new ground, its score is enjoyable but not for the ages, its perpetual tap dancing can seem a bit much, and it may sometimes be too cute for its own good. But, to quote a better-known musical, if you let it entertain you, you’ll have a real good time."
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"Nearly half a century after its Off-Off Broadway debut, the Broadway version isn’t staged with exceptional ingenuity; it doesn’t have to be. The production values are ratcheted up, but not as much as the ticket prices...The biggest change on Broadway is that the show somehow no longer feels like an ironic if loving send-up of a 30’s extravaganza, but something closer to an imitation of one."
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"It’s not fun to feel superior to such material; it’s numbing. As for Jim Wise’s score, quick: Hum a tune from this nearly 50-year-old musical. The repetition of the music is in a contest only with the repetition of the Dick jokes...Given a full-scale Broadway set here, we only notice that a couple dozen chorus girls failed to show up."
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"Skinner directs 'Dames at Sea' as well, but it is his choreography which keeps the show on its toes from beginning to end. He has stacked the deck with an ingratiating cast, including two standout performances. So there is plenty for musical comedy audiences to be happy about, especially at a time when there is nothing else on Broadway in this category."
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"It may not win a shelf full of Tonys or a Pulitzer Prize, but they kept me entertained for their respective two hours’ traffic...The director and cast execute cinema cliches with infectious charm...It’s as light as a soap bubble and just as lasting, sure to burst as soon as you hit the pavement outside the Helen Hayes. But while the hard-working cast keeps the bubble afloat, 'Dames' is a delight."
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