Pleasant, Jaunty and a Trifle Dusty

A century and a half or so of Broadway musicals has produced oodles of timeless classics and perhaps an equal number of forgettable shows. Somewhere in the middle is “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” the quintessential chestnut if there ever was one. Created in the postwar era and based on a roaring twenties novel by Anita Loos, “Gentlemen” is a giant piece of fluff about frisky, gold-digging flappers and their randy (or stuffy) sugar daddies. The team of Jule Styne (music) and Leo Robin (lyrics) produced one and a half memorable hits, the one being “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend,” and the half being “Bye Bye Baby.” The rest is mostly second rate, though pleasant and jaunty enough. It takes a lot of work to bring this kind of creaky book (by Loos and Joseph Fields) to life, and the Center for Performing Arts at Rhinebeck does so with mixed results in its current revival. Clearly the flavor and froth of the period come forward in the spectacular costumes and clever sets. The dizzying parade of fabulous flapper dresses alone is an achievement of note. The cast pours a lot of energy into the effort, too. As Lorelei Lee, the follies girl who plays fast and loose on a cruise ship to Paris, Aubrey Flick is forceful and gorgeous, with good comic timing and a brassy voice. Lou Trapani (who also produced and sponsored the show) has a nice old-fashioned flair as her beau, the button maker Gus Esmond. His fidelity as well as Lorelei’s is tested when he stays behind to tend to his business and seek permission from his father, Esmond Sr., to wed.  Lorelei is accompanied instead by her best friend, Dorothy Shaw (Catherine Olson), who has adventures of her own with straight-laced Henry Spofford (Michael Torbet) and his mother (Sue Brooks). The presence of Josephus Gage (Dean Temple), who is building an empire of — whadyaknow? — zippers, complicates matters. Olson, who possesses the best voice in the cast, seemed at times to be holding back. Some of the best comic moments of the night belonged to Cathy Blume Ballister, playing an accident-prone showgirl who temporarily enjoys Gus’s patronage. The rest of the cast’s singing varies in quality, and some numbers appeared a little under-rehearsed. Rhinebeck’s shallow stage, which is level with the front-row seats, affords intimacy but also constrains the choreography. Director/choreographer AnnChris Warren made the best of it. If some of the show lacked pizzazz, it might have been due to layers of dust covering the story, not the production. “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” runs through July 17 at the Center for Performing Arts at Rhinebeck.  For tickets call 845-876-3080 or go to www.centerforperformingarts.org.