‘Crazy for You’ leading man proves a true triple threat

In Super Summer Theatre/P.S. Productions' "Crazy for You" at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park, director Phillip Shelburne has taken delicious nonsense and turned it into a celebration of musical comedy tradition.

Wonderful voices, inspired acting, knock-your-socks off choreography (by incredible Vegas newcomer Jason Kalish) and mesmerizing, colorful costumes (by Sandra Huntsman) make this an unusually infectious evening.

The plot by Ken Ludwig ("Lend Me a Tenor") is just an excuse to hang together some of the best music in American theater history - all by George and Ira Gershwin.

A rich young New York City man, prodded by his domineering mother, goes out to the loneliest place on Earth - the fictional town of Deadrock, Nev. - to foreclose on a theater. There, he falls in love with the town's only woman.

So many farcical complications develop along the way, and so many iconic numbers come out of nowhere, you're likely to enjoy the corniness of it all.

Evan Litt, as the earnest young man, is a rarity in Vegas: a genuine triple threat who acts as well as he sings and dances. He has his own style, but when he smiles and tries to hoodwink the leading lady, you can't help but think of a youthful Gene Kelly. Litt doesn't get to sing in the rain here, but he does tap dance on top of a car.

Shannon Winkel is headstrong and vulnerable as the Annie Oakley-ish ingenue. Her vocalizing isn't just good - it's theater good, in that it feels like an extension of her character.

Joe Hynes is hysterically pompous as producer whiz Bela Zangler. Andee Gibbs is a formidable, pint-sized authority figure as Bobby's mother (she's so elite, she mispronounces our state's name). Steve McMillan proves himself a kind but don't-mess-with-me theater owner. And Glenn Heath is a likable bad guy who gets tamed by the meanest gal on the East Coast (the seductive Huntsman, a Lola who gets what she wants).

Enough. Just go see it.

Anthony Del Valle can be reached at vegastheaterchat@aol.com. You can write him c/o Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125.