Backwards in High Heels at Long Beach Performing Arts Center

Backwards in High Heels

Long Beach Performing Arts Center
300 E. Ocean Blvd. Long Beach

International City Theatre presents a new musical about the golden age of Hollywood. Backwards in High Heels depicts the life and times of actress, dancer and singer Ginger Rogers, one of Hollywood's all-time biggest stars and best known for her partnership with Fred Astaire. Other characters in the musical include Jimmy Stewart, Ethel Merman and Katherine Hepburn.

Presented by International City Theatre

Thru - Mar 21, 2010

Price: $32-$45

Show Type: Musical

Box Office: 562-436-4610

www.ictlongbeach.com

Long Beach Performing Arts Center Seating Chart

Backwards in High Heels Reviews

Average Rating based on 5 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

Los Angeles Times - Somewhat Recommended

"...director caryn desai and choreographer Melissa Giattino don't always keep pace with their sure-footed material in an uneven staging that ranges from the crisp to the clunky. Music Director Darryl Archibald helms the lively offstage band. As Ginger, perky Anna Aimee White is a facile dancer whose voice alternates between wispiness and a strong belt. Nimble Matt Bauer renders a workmanlike Astaire – no mean feat. Lela should be larger than life, but Heather Lee substitutes subdued refinement for true grit. Although she makes a great Ethel Merman, Robin De Lano falters in her limp imitations of Bette Davis and Katharine Hepburn. Jeff Payton and Christopher Carothers, both fine in multiple roles, round out the cast."

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- F. Kathleen Foley

Stage Scene LA - Recommended

"...Screen legend Ginger Rogers takes to the floor again in Lynnette Barkley and Christopher McGovern's lightweight musical biography Backwards In High Heels, now getting its first big-cast production by Fullerton's FCLO Musical Theatre. Though not as dance-heavy as 42nd Street or Crazy For You or as meaty as Gypsy, Backwards (subtitled The Ginger Rogers Story) nonetheless provides two hours of fancy footwork, classic 1920s and 30s songs, and Broadway/Hollywood nostalgia."

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- Steven Stanley

StageHappenings.com - Highly Recommended

"...Perhaps the greatest musical performance out of many in the work is Lela's "You'll Never Know." Ginger's mom has opened up a school for aspiring young actors and actresses, and has moved out of Ginger's place. Like the earlier "I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket," in which Ginger tells her mom how much she loves her, "You'll Never Know" is her mom's reply. When Ginger thanks her mom at the end before walking out with the Oscar, we bow to Lela, not just Ginger."

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- Ray Luo

ReviewPlays.com - Recommended

"...Director caryn desai keeps things moving, and Stephen Gifford gives the ensemble an art nouveau thrust stage to work on. But costume designer Kim DeShazo has provided Ginger with several outfits that are not only ill-fitting, but downright ugly. The men are costumed well, though. How wrong can you go in black tie and tails? "Backwards in High Heels" has no great plot or momentum, but if you happen to be in the vicinity of Long Beach you might want to give this slight, modestly entertaining diversion a whirl."

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- Cynthia Citron

Buzzine - Highly Recommended

"...Joining White on stage are Heather Lee (Rogers's mother Lela), Matt Bauer (Fred Astaire and other roles), Jack Briggs, Jeff Payton and Robin DeLano, each actor collectively making Backwards in High Heels an entertaining musical that is as bright and captivating as it is lighthearted and comedic."

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- Parimal M. Rohit

Backwards in High Heels at Long Beach Performing Arts Center