Huge dance numbers, mistaken identity and romance abound in ‘Crazy for You’

GROSSE POINTE WOODS — Grosse Pointe Theatre is dusting off a beloved musical to open its 77th season.

The George and Ira Gershwin romantic comedy “Crazy for You” will be staged Sept. 13 to Sept. 21 at Grosse Pointe North High School in Grosse Pointe Woods.

Set circa the 1930s, it’s the story of a wealthy New York banker named Bobby Child — played by Zak Shugart — who’s sent to the old gold mining town of Deadrock, Nevada, to foreclose on a theater that, like the town, has seen better days. Bobby is smitten by the theater owner’s spirited daughter, Polly Baker — played by Catie Hauff — but she immediately doesn’t like him. Determined to win her affection, Bobby — a dancer at heart — concocts a plot to produce a show at the theater in order to save it. He disguises himself as Bela Zangler, the moody Hungarian producer behind New York’s hugely popular Zangler’s Follies, and brings in his friends from the Follies for the Deadrock show, but when the real Zangler shows up in town, hijinks and a case of mistaken identity ensue.

Conner Motzkus, of Grosse Pointe Park, plays Zangler, who travels to Deadrock in pursuit of the dancer he loves.

“He is a big personality,” Motzkus said of Zangler. “He’s very high or very low.”

Don Bischoff, of Clinton Township, a fan of classic American musicals, is directing “Crazy for You.”

Bischoff said this is a show he has wanted to do for several years, but it needed a large auditorium like the one at North’s performing arts center.

“The problem is, it’s such a huge undertaking,” Bischoff said. “The dances are big. The sets are big. The costumes are big.”

It also has a 31-member cast, he said.

“What’s crazy is how many big dances there are,” Motzkus said, noting that these include elaborate tap numbers. “It’s really exciting to watch.”

Ballroom and ballet numbers are included as well.

“It’s really just candy for your eyes,” said Britta Peele-Spitzer, of Grosse Pointe Park, who plays Irene Roth, Bobby’s spoiled, seductive and frustrated fiancée. “There’s so much to look at.”

Bischoff said they tried to stay “as true to the original choreography as possible.”

Many of the dancers have been rehearsing four days a week, three hours a day, to prepare.

Peele-Spitzer, who was in GPT’s “9 to 5 The Musical,” is having a blast playing Irene.

“Irene is a very confident woman,” Peele-Spitzer said. “I find her very fun to play. … She is not afraid of her sexuality. She expresses herself.”

The score includes songs like “I Got Rhythm,” “They Can’t Take That Away from Me,” “Embraceable You” and “Someone to Watch Over Me.”

“It’s the American songbook, mostly,” Bischoff said.

If the songs sound familiar, that’s because they’ve been performed by artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby.

“They speak to timeless themes of love and loss and longing and wishing things could be different,” Motzkus said.

This isn’t the first time Bischoff has worked on “Crazy for You.” He also choreographed a 2010 production at Grosse Pointe North. Sara Shook, who played Patricia Fodor in that production, is reprising the role for this show. Cast members in the North production occupying behind the scenes roles now are Kristina Kamm-Mardlin, as the apprentice director, and Olyvia O’Donnell, as the properties manager.

GPT last staged “Crazy for You” in 1996, when it was directed by GPT member Marie Boyle Reinman, of Grosse Pointe Farms. She’s back for this production as the vocal director.

Peele-Spitzer said “Crazy for You” is “just a light-hearted escape,” and others involved in the production agree.

“This one’s just fun,” Motzkus said.

The Grosse Pointe North High School Performing Arts Center is located at 707 Vernier Road in Grosse Pointe Woods. Tickets can be purchased in advance or at the door. For tickets or more information, visit gpt.org or call (313) 881-4004.