STAGE REVIEW : ‘Club Indigo’: A Depression Uplift

The 1930s and ‘40s were the heyday of the nightclub and the golden age of Tin Pan Alley. To forget about the Depression and a world war, America was bound and determined to kick up its heels and have a good time. Can a decidedly young company at the dawn of the ‘90s re-create that world without sinking into camp?

“Club Indigo, Memories in Blue,” a musical revue at Burbank’s Golden Theatre saluting the period, accomplishes that neat trick with only a couple of snickers at that naive and hopeful world, an America just beginning to face the deflation of growing up. Created, directed and choreographed by Gregory Scott Young, the production, like its cast, takes the period seriously and infuses it with affection and abounding energy.

The company of 16 sometimes seems about to overflow the small space. But the Art Deco nightclub setting is cleverly designed (by Melanie Paizis and Ron Stately) to accommodate them with ease. Even the full production numbers look comfortable and are of a size to have done New York’s Copacabana proud.

In his four years directing the Golden, Young’s work has grown immeasurably. His choreography, always bright, gives much of “Club Indigo” its vitality, firmly planted in the period but also retaining enough originality to look fresh. The same is true of the arrangements and musical direction of D. Jay Bradley. They have the tone and muscle of the era and often sound as if they emanate from many more than the three pieces in Bradley’s ensemble.

The pardonable camp resides in numbers featuring a slapstick Carmen Miranda, a Marlene Dietrich with the wrong speech impediment and an obligatory nod to the Andrews Sisters.

Otherwise the company is given every opportunity to shine and sing its heart out in its heartfelt tribute to this remarkable era. Some are notable. The bronze patina of Alicia Irving’s voice gives reverberating sensuality to “Body and Soul,” as does the rich contralto of Sandra Terry in her fiery “Sweet Georgia Brown.” The unmistakable swing of the band vocalist highlights Dianne Palombo’s “Beginning to See the Light.”

Vernon Willet gives vibrant drama to “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” while Jim Graft makes “Sophisticated Lady” sound easy--it isn’t. Neither would need miking in a Broadway theater. Willet, Martin Drobak and Carl White are at the core of the fine dance numbers, and Joseph Hanna, as the typical sleazy emcee, catches the heart by announcing, just before the ensemble glides into “White Cliffs of Dover,” that “this one’s for our boys overseas.” Some things don’t change, after all.

“Club Indigo, Memories in Blue,” Golden Theatre, 139 N. San Fernando Road, Burbank; Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 and 7 p.m. Ends March 3. $12-$15; (818) 841-9921. Running time: 1 hour,50 minutes.