Show Palace Dinner Theatre stepping back in time to 'Boogie Wonderland'

From feathered hair and extra-wide lapels to six-inch platform heels, no era can match the 1970s for wonderfully embarrassing nostalgia. It was an age of funky decadence, bright colors found nowhere in nature, and of course, disco.

The mirrored ball shall rise again. The Show Palace Dinner Theatre, 16128 U.S. 19, will present the musical comedy "Boogie Wonderland," a warm but irreverent look back at the decade we love to hate - or hate that we love - July 22 and through Aug. 23.

"Here at the Show Palace we do revues every summer," said Matthew McGee, director and co-creator of "Boogie Wonderland." "We've done 50's and 60s revues; we've done Irving Berlin."

"Boogie Wonderland" began as a typical "salute to the '70s" musical revue. As McGee and co-creator Scott Daniel tinkered with the idea, however, they decided the decade just had too much entertainment value not to make the most of it.

"The '70's are kind of a decade people would like to remember and forget at the same time," McGee said. "There's a lot of fun things about it, but there's also a lot of really cheesy things."

One of those fun-but-cheesy cultural artifacts burned into our collective memory is the '70s-style TV musical variety show, a la Donny and Marie Osmond, the Captain and Tennille, Tony Orlando and Dawn and a host of other hosts, with lots of glitter, polyester jumpsuits and every song given a lavish disco treatment.

"Those shows were the fluffiest, silliest stuff you'd even want to see," Daniel said, and this show reflects that image of the decade. Rather than dwell on some of the seedier reality of places like Studio 54, "Boogie Wonderland," sticks with being good-natured nostalgia. The show takes the same approach with disco, the music that still stirs strong feelings for and stronger feelings against some 30 years after its heyday.

"It's funny, people will say that, but you play it and people can't help but move," McGee said.

The show takes several memorable disco hits and, blended with arrangements by musical director Stan Collins, are woven into a storyline that like disco itself is best enjoyed if not taken too seriously.

Three space travelers crash land to find an entire planet where disco rules and every night is a party. It isn't exactly clear where this world is, Scott said. It could be another time or dimension. Boogie Wonderland, though, is a place where it's all '70s, all the time.

Choreographer David Tancier is in charge of supplying the boogie to "Boogie Wonderland," along with other classic disco moves.

"There are about 10 basic disco steps," Tancier said. Though he and his fellow cast members are too young to have experienced the disco era nightlife themselves, they are having no trouble getting into the moves. If there's one aspect of disco that definitely resonates today, he said, it's the dancing. With TV shows like "So You Think You Can Dance" and "Dancing with the Stars," highly stylized partnered dancing is as popular now as it was then.

And as far out as the premise is, Daniel said, there is a story with identifiable characters and a romantic theme of the importance of finding the right partner to go through life with. Along the way, it is also filled with a litany of '70s pop culture references.

For all that can be made fun of the decade, McGee said, there was some very good music that has stood the test of time.

"You can play 'YMCA' at a wedding today and people still want to get up and do it," McGee said referring to the 1978 Village People hit. In fact, they get to in "Boogie Wonderland."

And whether you look back at the decade with fondness or derision, this show will be equally fun.

Friday and Saturday night performances begin at 7:45 p.m.; doors open for dinner and cocktails at 6 p.m. On Sundays, the doors open at 1 p.m. and show starts at 3 p.m. Matinees are available on select Thursdays and some Saturdays and doors open for dinner and cocktails at 11:30 a.m. with show time of 1:15 p.m. Tickets are $48, plus tax, for dinner and show. Show only is $36.95, plus tax. Call 727-863-7949 or 1-888-655-7469 to reserve tickets.