Nice Work If You Can Get It

What happens when a wealthy playboy stumbles out of a speakeasy and meets a sassy bootlegger on the run from the police?  Of course they fall in love and provide the basis for a light and effervescent comedy filled with Gershwin songs, eccentric characters, and dazzling choreography!  Last night I went to Nice Work If You Can Get It, the first Broadway in Utah show for the 2014-2015 season, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  The plot is pretty formulaic but it doesn't really matter because the show is so charming!  I loved hearing all of the familiar songs by George and Ira Gershwin like "Someone To Watch Over Me," "Let's Call The Whole Thing Off," "S'Wonderful," "But Not For Me," "I've Got  A Crush On You," and the title song.  Many of the characters are absolutely hilarious including Duchess Estonia Dulworth (Stephanie Harter Gilmore), a temperance worker who, in the course of an evening, inadvertently drinks alcohol and ends up swinging from a chandelier, Eileen Evergreen (Rachael Scarr), a modern interpretive dancer, and Cookie McGee (Reed Campbell), a bootlegger duped into being a butler.  They provide many laugh-out-loud moments!  The choreography is amazing, especially when Jimmy (Alex Enterline) and Billie (Mariah MacFarlane) perform "S'Wonderful" and I loved the big production number when the chorus girls and the vice squad perform "Fascinating Rhythm."  The entire cast is extremely talented but Enterline is particularly endearing and MacFarlane can definitely belt out a tune!  I really liked the elaborate sets showing various views of Jimmy's Long Island mansion and the fabulous flapper costumes are like a bit of confectionery.  There are many jokes which poke gentle fun at both political parties and politicians themselves and they got the biggest laughs of the evening ("I'll be a high ranking member of the Senate and you'll do something important").  This show does not have a lot of substance but I recommend it to anyone looking for an evening of pure entertainment!  It runs through September 28.