By Dale King
Lake Worth Playhouse jumps spiritedly into the new theatrical season with a top-notch production of Meet Me in St. Louis, the 1989 musical drawn from the fabled 1944 same-name film starring Judy Garland and Margaret O’Brien.
The show that has played on and off Broadway follows the Smith family — dad, mom, four daughters, a son and a grandpa. The comfortable, upper-middle class clan lives in St. Louis in 1903, a year before the opening of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, otherwise known as the St. Louis World’s Fair.
The impending expo is largely overshadowed by the love interests of the Smiths’s two eldest daughters, Rose (Alexandra Garcia) and Esther (Sarah Rose). Early on, Rose says she is expecting a long-distance phone call — and possible marriage proposal — from Warren Sheffield (Jeffrey Daniel), a rich New Yorker. She tries to reschedule dinner — which ruffles dad’s feathers.
At the same time, Esther expresses her love for the boy next door, John Truett (Aaron Lee) although his innocence and naïveté prevent him from catching on to her obvious overtures.
She manages to catch up with him again on the trolley to the world’s fair construction site, moving her to sing the show’s well-known “The Trolley Song,” a lively tune that became a Garland signature.
The Playhouse stage crew has constructed a practicable trolley car that’s just right for this famed tune and important meeting.
Not everything works out well, though. When the youngest Smith sister, Tootie (an actual 6-year-old named Avery Sell, who steals nearly every scene) claims that John has injured her, Esther confronts the alleged attacker and calls him “a bully.” When Tootie finally confesses she made the story up, Esther runs to apologize, and she and John share their first kiss.
Internal scheming creates confusion at a Christmas ball, though the scene takes a positive turn when John proposes to Esther and she accepts. It also gives Grandpa (played wonderfully by the multitalented John Costanzo) the opportunity to take Tootie to the ball as his “date.”
The score for Vincente Minelli’s film Meet Me in St. Louis was written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane, who provided some excellent songs to go along with the period songs, such as “Meet Me in St. Louis” which is sung by one and all to open and close the show. Dad (Tom Cooch) grumbles about those who pronounce Louis and “Louie.”
Esther laments her early miscues with John in “The Boy Next Door.” Mr. and Mrs. (Meri Ziev) Smith recall how they met in the song “Wasn’t It Fun?” At a party for brother Lon (Marlin Wagner), who is leaving for school at Princeton, Rose, Esther, Lon and Douglas (Kevin Allain) dance up a storm to the traditional American folktune “Skip to My Lou.” Later, when Esther and Rose join housekeeper Katie (Jodie Dixon-Mears) in the kitchen, they celebrate Katie’s heritage with a foot-stomping “A Touch of the Irish.”
And then there’s perhaps the best-known of the Martin-Blane songs, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” sung by Esther, and which has since become a holiday standard.
Michael Ursua is doing double duty these days. He’s directing Meet Me in St. Louis and is in the cast of “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” at the Wick Theatre. With 19 people in this production, he has his hands full keeping all in order.
Rose is very Garland-esque as Esther, with the same red hair, demeanor and the solid voice to prove it. Garcia is sage, yet fancy-free, as sister, Rose, who is back to the Playhouse stage from last summer’s Tommy.
Cooch, who, as dad, looks just like Harvey Korman in Blazing Saddles, is curmudgeonly, yet loving and, in the end, understanding and willing to adapt. Ziev portrays mom, a departure from her last role as Bloody Mary in last year’s South Pacific. Her flair for capturing the depth of her roles results in delightful characterizations.
Daniel brings a slight haughtiness to his role as Warren, but stays grounded and keeps the character likeable. Lee at first portrays Truett as untouchable, but this fades as love takes over.
Avery Sell is irresistible, giving life to the role that young Margaret O’Brien played in the movie. Her sister, Megan Sell, portrays her sister, Agnes Smith, in this musical, and their mom, Shanna Sell, is the choreographer.
Plaudits to Dixon-Mears, artistic director at the Playhouse, for taking over at the last minute for a cast member who could not complete the role. She is an able singer, dancer and actress. She should perform more often.
Costanzo also does a masterful job, making things jovial wherever he shows up.
Meet Me in St. Louis is playing through Oct. 25 at the Lake Worth Playhouse, 713 Lake Ave., Lake Worth. Call 561-586-6410 for tickets and information or visit www.lakeworthplayhouse.org.