Ballet West ballet-master Bruce Caldwell recalls with fondness how company-founder Willam F. Christensen managed to mix dance and vaudeville throughout the work "Nothin' Doin' Bar."
"He did it the only way Mr. C can do it," Caldwell said during an interview between rehearsals in the Capitol Theatre. "He wanted the dancers to develop their own types of characters. But he was always there if we went too far."
Ballet West will perform Christensen's "Nothin' Doin' Bar," Antony Tudor's "Lilac Garden" and George Balanchine's "Who Cares?" during the upcoming "Evening of Ballets." The performances will run Feb. 9-10, 14-15, at 7:30 p.m. There will also be a 2 p.m. matinee on Feb. 17. Tickets range from $17-$45 and are available at all ArtTix outlets or by calling 355-ARTS (2787) or 1-888-451-ARTS. Tickets are also available online at ( www.arttix.org).
Although "Nothin' Doin' Bar" premiered in 1950 in San Francisco, Christensen brought it to Utah in 1968 and set it on the Utah Ballet Theatre at the University of Utah. That was when Caldwell first got into the act.
"I was a lowly apprentice," Caldwell remembered with a smile. "I was cast as the bartender. And though it wasn't a big role, I was thrilled."
The work is set in a 1920s speakeasy during Prohibition, and it's like a little sociological study on the types of characters who frequented the place.
"There is no star in this piece," Caldwell explained. "It's an ensemble work that needs a cast of characters who are strong in their own way, to really work. It's like, well, the TV program 'Cheers.' Everyone has their own dramas and their own lives. And a part of their lives is coming to this bar."
The cast includes a couple trying desperately to come off as well-to-do. "They try but fail," Caldwell said.
Also featured in the cast is the boxer Punchy, the party girl Fanny Flapper and her date Joe College, the single woman Shady Sadie and the gangster Pay-off Mo, just to name a few.
"These are very thought-out individual characters that Mr. C had seen during his time in vaudeville," Caldwell said. "It's a slice of Americana during the Roaring '20s, and it spoofs but also captures the essence of these types of places. To a degree, the work feels like it's coming out of a comic book."
The last time Ballet West performed "Nothin' Doin' Bar" was back in 1984. And preparations were already rolling to revive this charming work last summer.
"We went to Mr. C's house to watch some of the footage we had taken of the 1984 performances," Caldwell said. "We were able to utilize the costumes, which were in San Francisco, and began getting things ready for the sets and staging."
While some of the costumes needed mending, most of the sets needed to be re-created, said Caldwell.
Then it was up to the dancers to get their parts down.
"This work is physically demanding," said the ballet master. "Instead of just being a demonstration of technique, there is a lot of acting involved.
"Mr. C (who is now 98) relied on the dancers quite a bit to flesh out the characters," said Caldwell, who is staging the work for Ballet West. "He gave the dancers space to develop themselves. And you never felt like you were sat on. I'm hoping I'm doing the same, although I would never compare myself to Mr. C."
During rehearsal these past few weeks, Caldwell has seen the dancers overcome the hardships and challenges of bringing "Nothin' Doin' Bar" to the stage.
"The idea is to incorporate all the other versions that were danced here and in San Francisco," he said. "Every time this work was performed, little things were adjusted. And we needed to fine-tune the work a little more to make sure this version was something representative of what it was but also how it will be perceived today. It's true this is a period piece, but we didn't want it to appear too outdated."
E-MAIL: scott@desnews.com