`Never Gonna Dance' dawdles on Broadway

The show, which opened last night at Broadway's Broadhurst Theatre, is loosely based on "Swing Time," one of Astaire and Rogers's most entrancing films.

The duo is a tough act to follow. If this bland stage version of their work never transports you to musical-comedy heaven, it is a pleasant enough diversion, particularly when a hardworking cast is hoofing its way through Jerry Mitchell's spirited choreography.

And the leads, Noah Racey and Nancy Lemenager remind you what a tonic fine dancing can be. Racey, who looks like the famous advertising illustration of the Arrow Collar man, is debonair. He's not much of a singer, but he makes a forceful partner. Lemenager, wide-eyed and with a shy smile, follows Racey's lead with ease.

Broadway has been pretty barren of good dance this season, so Mitchell's numbers come as a relief for those of us who think musical-theater choreography is becoming a lost art.

What's odd about "Never Gonna Dance" is that Mitchell's best work comes right at the top of the show. Nothing else tops the musical's first big production number, and the evening gets bogged down in plot. Our hero, a vaudeville hoofer named Lucky Garnett, vows he won't dance until he earns $25,000 at some boring job so he can go back to Punxsutawney, Pa., to marry his wealthy fiancee.

That first number, "I Won't Dance," is a rhythmic celebration of all the goings-on in the Grand Central terminal, from the brush of a shoeshine to the slap of a newspaper bundle on a newsstand counter to the cries of a hot-dog vendor. "Never Gonna Dance" is overstuffed with songs, all with music by the great Jerome Kern, yet performed in disappointing Las Vegas-style orchestrations by Harold Wheeler. Jeffrey Hatcher's slow-moving book gets a bit choppy. Director Michael Greif doesn't do much to alleviate this stop-and-go quality as he shoehorns song after song into the fragile plot. The story, such as it is, follows Lucky's budding romance with Penny, a dance-studio instructor, and their entry into a radio dance contest.The supporting cast could not be stronger. Karen Ziemba, as the heroine's wisecracking best friend, is too good for the meager amount of material she's given here. Eugene Fleming and Deidre Goodwin deliver plenty of sass as two serious dance-contest competitors. And Peter Bartlett, in what can only be described as the Eric Blore role, is blissfully funny as the ever-so gay dance-studio owner. Set designer Robin Wagner's New York skyline looks surprisingly anemic, though William Ivey Long's colorful costumes are properly sumptuous.