“It’s Fantastic Music, Dance And “Nuttin But Hutton” Is Spectacular!”
The music and memories created by screen legend Betty Hutton were never more wonderfully showcased in song and dance than in NoHo Arts Center's production of “Nuttin But Hutton” in North Hollywood. Filled with comical song, dance, and written in the classic original Broadway musical style, it’s the story of a woman trying to sell the concept of a stage musical based on Betty Hutton’s life. Ironically it is the musical you are watching itself that unfolds in front of you and becomes the production you ultimately are watching and will enjoy.
The amazing Diane Vincent plays DeeDee, a young and very immense enthusiast of the works of Ms. Hutton who wants to bring her music to life on a real Broadway stage in a real Broadway production. Diane was amazingly comical, energetic and filled with life and the love of the traditional music and dance that only a true Broadway performer could do. Diane, with her wonderful comic timing and beautiful vocal skills and range, will make you laugh and you might even find yourself singing along with songs like “Stuff Like That There,” the toe-tapping “Rumble, Rumble, Rumble,” the whimsical “A Square In A Social Circle,” the hysterically sharp “His Rocking Horse ran Away” and the crowd-pleaser “There’s No Business Like Show Business.” I just couldn’t take my eyes off her vibrant personality! Encore Diane!
Nathan Holland is the Broadway producer Buster Heymeister who happens to be on a downward spin in his latest productions and is the one who needs to be convinced on doing this particular show and needs to be convinced it will be a smash success. Nathan provides the perfect contrast of the pessimistic man who takes his time deciding if this play about Ms. Hutton will truly be a success. He dances and sings along with the company and his pessimism quickly changes by act two.
Now Diane has a trio of talented men (named Tom, Dick and Harry) who help sell the show and all are amazing in their individual musical contributions to the story and ensemble of talent in this show. These men, along with the vocal styling’s of Diane , shine with number’s like “Arthur Murray Taught Me Dance In A Hurry,” “Doctor Lawyer, Indian Chief,” “Igloo,” “The Greatest Show On Earth," “Hamlet” and more. I could tell all three were having a marvelous time with this show.
Let’s start with Chad Borden playing Tom. I loved watching his comic expressions, high energy and his obvious love of the live theatre venue. He was reading the audience and throwing in extra looks, motions and sprinkles of what look like spontaneity. (Or was it excellent direction? I don’t know.) Either way, Chad was hysterical to watch and can sing with both Broadway style tones and tremendous amounts of humor and obviously loves what he does. Chad is amazing to watch sing and dance.
Daniel Guzman plays Dick. Now talk about ranges of personalities and comic timing, Daniel has some funny and broad facial expressions that will have you in stiches. He sings and dances his way with such style and energy that he’ll definitely make you laugh and sing along. His characterizations are also of note and they seem to make wonderful fun with various personalities with a simple costume or make-up change. Bravo Daniel!
And finally, Justin Jones who plays Harry has a wonderfully melodic voice that complements the harmonies of all three men on stage. Yes he sings, dances and even juggles, but he truly has a velvet voice and does an impressive job making us laugh with his ‘little buddy’ (a ventriloquist dummy). Justin is just a pure delight to watch as he adds nothing but melodic harmonies to the songs and a lot of humor to the scenes. Sing on Justin!
With music taken directly from Ms. Hutton's films and career, and magically choreographed by Lee Martino, the production was impressively directed by Larry Raben. It is fast paced, with old style humor and a bit of slapstick but you’ll find buckets of the most comical song and dance numbers I don’t think I’ve seen in the west coast theatre in a long time. It also mixes multi-media with real clips and images of Ms. Hutton and obviously staged (but hysterical) interviews of the man-on-the-street type that just add to the fun. It also hits an emotional chord at the end.
Special note: This show was created, written and produced by Dianne and her husband Sam Kriger who Sam also doubled as the amazing conductor and pianist for this show. Also much kudos to a clever set design by Jeff McLaughlin and wonderful costumes by A Jeffrey Schoenberg. What a musical treat this show was!
It really was a fun show and amazingly charming, warm and sprinkled with humor throughout. This is a nice way to remember who the famous actress, performer and the movie star that Betty Hutton truly was. There so much talent in this show it’s just hard to watch one performer for any length of time, because the others might do something just as fabulous and you’ll miss it. I’d see this one more than once just because it’s fun! Take the whole family for this musical treat! Check them out atwww.NuttinButHutton.com.
Pic 001- Justin Jones, Chad Borden, Nathan Holland, Diane Vincent and Daniel Guzman singing “Doctor Lawyer, Indian Chief”
Pic 002- Daniel Guzman, Diane Vincent, Chad Borden and Justin Jones