The venerable Bucks County Playhouse is presenting a brand-new musical for your summertime enjoyment. It’s the story of one of the great entertainers of the early 20th Century, a bold, belting, full-figured woman with a wicked tongue – Sophie Tucker. The show’s title is Last of the Red Hot Mamas, and it certainly fits!
Last of the Red Hot Mamas is written by the husband and wife team of Susan and Lloyd Ecker (creators of the 2014 documentary The Outrageous Sophie Tucker) in collaboration with Harrison David Rivers. Much of the music in the show consists of popular period songs from 1906 to 1913, with additional music by the Eckers.
The show traces Sophie’s (Ryann Redmond) career, starting with her early days as a singing waitress in Connecticut. A chance meeting with the comedy duo of brothers Willie and Eugene Howard (Danny Rutigliano and Jonathan Hadley) leads to a meeting with agent and former songwriter Harry Von Tilzer (Rutigliano in a dual role), but she is met with rejection. Von TIlzer’s client, refined singer Nora Bayes (Stephanie Gibson), agrees with his view that a hefty female “belter” will never succeed on the stage. However, Bayes’ maid, former dance star Mollie Elkins (Rheaume Crenshaw) believes in Sophie’s dream and agrees to tutor the novice in the ways of show business, with the help of legendary tap dancer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson (DeWitt Fleming Jr.).
Mollie calls in favors from her show biz friends, and soon Sophie is climbing the ladder to stardom in the vaudeville circuits of impresario E.F. Keith (Hadley, in a dual role). But Sophie chafes under the conventions for female singers, and when one night she performs a raunchy (for its time) double-entendre-laden number, she quickly falls from grace.
Director-choreographer Shea Sullivan wisely does not have the cast try to imitate the historical performers they embody on stage. Instead, she has them recreate the essence of those performances, which I think improves the show by allowing it to present a taste of the great popular appeal of the long-lost art of vaudeville. The tap numbers created for the show are fantastic, put over by the refreshingly lively dance ensemble in such numbers as “Darktown Strutters Ball,” “Tin Pan Alley Hustle,” and “Hula Lou.”
Leading lady Ryann Redmond captures the voluptuous physical appeal of Sophie Tucker. Her acting skills help portray the many moods of Tucker as she transforms from innocent country girl to increasingly self-assertive performer. Her voice recalls the clarion tones of Tucker’s vocal performances, especially with Tucker’s signature songs like “Some of These Days” and “You Gotta See Mama Every Night.”
Stephanie Gibson’s Nora Bayes, Sophie’s opposite in almost every way, channels the comic spirit of Carol Burnett in her portrayal of a self-absorbed star whose fading popularity exacerbates her latent insecurity. Gibson embodies Bayes’ sweet yet mannered singing style while showing Sophie how to perform “Shine On, Harvest Moon.” Danny Rutigliano and Jonathan Hadley as Willie and Eugene Howard score laughs with their verbal antics in the number “Clem-N-Tine,” while Rheaume Crenshaw’s Mollie puts over the defiant “There’ll Be Some Changes Made” and the rueful “After You’ve Gone.”
DeWitt Fleming Jr. is a knockout, recreating the smooth yet imaginative dancing style of Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, the legendary tap dancer, both with the ensemble in numbers like “Next Stop, New York City!” and on his own with “Doin’ the New Low-Down,” a speedy audition number. His recreation of “Bojangles” iconic staircase dance to “Swanee River” pays tribute to the original while allowing Fleming’s own tapping skill to shine through.
Last of the Red Hot Mamas is a good show for a summer’s night at the theater. It’s not a great show, not yet, but with a little work it could gain traction in other venues. It’s great fun, a warm tribute to the glory days of vaudeville and the talents of the men and women who performed in it. It’s a refreshing look back at an earlier time. For a funny, tuneful evening, I suggest you take a look at the Last of the Red Hot Mamas!
Last of the Red Hot Mamas is presented by the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, Pa, through July 28, 2024. For more information or to purchase tickets, call 215-862-2121 or go to bcptheater.org.
