Daddy D Productions: "Shake, Rattle & Riverside"
GREEN BAY, Wis.
(WFRV) – Daddy D Productions’ “Shake, Rattle & Riverside” is a
bundle of fun packed into 30 songs of the ’50s era, spiced with wild-eye
humor. Troupe leader Darren Johnson’s imagination runneth over. Program Act I “American
Bandstand” – band: Barb Hinnendael, keyboard; Bob Balsley, guitar; Ryan
Sette, bass; Jeff Hinnendael, drums; Kevin Van Ess, saxophone. “Sh-Boom Sh-Boom” Darren Johnson, Doug Dachelet, Shelly Emmer, Maria Sausen “Shake, Rattle and Roll” – Darren Johnson, Doug Dachelet, Shelly Emmer, Maria Sausen “Lonely Teardrops” – Darren Johnson “Only the Lonely” – Doug Dachelet “Born Too Late” – Maria Sausen Deer Hunters – Darren Johnson, Doug Dachelet “Que Sera Sera”/ “Get Someone Like Your Ma” – Darren Johnson, Doug Dachelet “I Got a Woman” – Darren Johnson “Green Door” – Doug Dachelet Buddy Hackett – Darren Johnson “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat” – Darren Johnson “The Nearness of You” – Maria Sausen Elvis
Presley songs: “Wear Your Ring Around My Neck” – Darren Johnson; “Teddy
Bear” – Doug Dachelet; “Don’t Be Cruel” – Shelly Emmer; “Don’t Be
Cruel” – Maria Sausen “Personality” – Doug Dachelet Deer Hunters II – Shelly Emmer, Maria Sausen “Que Sera Sera”/ “Get Someone Like Your Pa” – Shelly Emmer, Maria Sausen “Blue Moon” – Shelly Emmer and Band Act II “Train, Train” – Bob Balsley, Band “Rock and Roll Music” – Darren Johnson, Doug Dachelet, Shelly Emmer, Maria Sausen “Diana” – Doug Dachelet “Five-Foot-Two” – Kevin Van Ess, clarinet a la Pete Fountain Jethro the Peshtigo Gigolo “I’m Just a Gigolo” – Darren Johnson “Silhouettes on the Shade” – Darren Johnson “Earth Angel” – Doug Dachelet “Sincerely” – Shelly Emmer, Maria Sausen, Barb Hinnendael “Runaway” – Doug Dachelet Swamp People – Darren Johnson, Doug Dachelet “Shout” (“Gout!”) – Darren Johnson, Doug Dachelet “Who’s Sorry Now” – Maria Sausen “Come Softly, Darling” – Darren Johnson, Doug Dachelet, Shelly Emmer, Maria Sausen Military Salute: “Moments to Remember” – Maria Sausen, Shelly Emmer, Darren Johnson, Doug Dachelet “Rock ‘n’ Roll is Here to Stay” – All One
of Johnson’s new characters is Jethro the Peshtigo Gigolo. He comes out
pitching his love packages. One is the O.J. Simpson Package, which
includes a leisurely ride in a white Bronco with a police escort. Whoa.
Much more around-the-bend stuff is sprinkled throughout the show, which
has performances continuing through Nov. 1 at the Riverside Ballroom.
Info: www.daddydproductions.com. Ear-catching
songs include a stack with the same chord progression, with each
eventually sung together: “Silhouettes on the Shade,” “Earth Angel” and
“Sincerely.” That’s prime musicality. Brightness leaps from songs early in the show, including “Shake, Rattle and Roll.” The
live band is top notch. For instance, as Doug Dachelet sings the
romping “Personality,” the band kicks out musical personality along with
him. It does that in other Dachelet songs, too. Never-heard-before renditions pop up. There’s a Wisconsin
hunters’ version of “Blue Moon” with Shelly Emmer singing prettily to
such backup sounds as clacking antlers, duck calls and the racking of a
gun. Sounds weird, but it’s wonderful. Amazing. Also
totally original are versions of “Que Sera Sera” (whatever will be will
be). Each includes blaze-orange-clad hunters as bumpkins philosophizing
over marriage – first Darren Johnson and Doug Dachelet, then Shelly
Emmer and Maria Sausen and then everybody together in clever lyrics made
up by Johnson. Kevin Van Ess has the
doggonedest bit playing clarinet to a jazzy version of “Five-Foot-Two”
in the limber way of Pete Fountain. A comic caper has him playing the
instrument in ever-shortening lengths until he is only playing the reed.
Again, this is unlike anything you see or hear anywhere else around
here. Look at the song list – lots of good songs, which come with lots of solid singing. The show has Darren Johnson’s fingerprints all over it taking command of a vast array of comical and musical creativity. THE VENUE: The spacious Riverside Ballroom Crystal Ballroom is the heart of the 1936 Art Moderne building on Green Bay’s
east side. Performances are on a raised stage on which rock ‘n’ roll
legends Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper performed a famed
concert. Seating is at round tables on the ballroom floor. The ballroom
features high, sweeping, laminated wood beams with streamlined, curved
decoration at the base of each beam. Hanging from the ceiling are
Czechoslovakian crystal chandeliers. The building is on the National
Register of Historic Places. Imagine the Green Bay Packers holding
practice inside the ballroom. That happened a few times, according to a
Packers Heritage Trail plaque outside. Nearby flows the East River, thus the Riverside Ballroom. Because I review a broadening range of performances, professional and
amateur, and because of the tremendous range of production budgets, I
have decided to forego putting star ratings on performances. You may
email me at warren.gerds@wearegreenbay.com. Watch for my on-air segments on WFRV between 6 and 8 a.m. Sundays. |
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