The musical “High Button Shoes” a perfect fit for Goodspeed Opera House

EAST HADDAM — What can you say about a slap-stick, high-kicking musical with not one, but two con artists, two polkas, two gorillas and even a bicycle built for two?
“I’ll take two,” Mr. Pierre Pontdue, one of the con artists played with the requisite goofiness by Ken Jennings, says, as a running joke in this fast-paced, smile-a-minute production of the 1947 musical, “High Button Shoes,” at the Goodspeed Opera House.
The musical, set in 1913, and based on the semi-autobiographical novel by Stephen Longstreet, feels like it was custom-made for the Opera House, which opened in 1877, and reopened again in 1963.
The plot, such as it is, centers on Harrison Floy, played with charismatic broad humor by Stephen Bienskie, a flimflam man who returns to his hometown of New Brunswick, New Jersey, with his sidekick Pontdue, to ply his con-artist ways on the unsuspecting townsfolk.
Whether it is selling new-fangled Model T’s, in any color as long as it is black, or making Real Estate deals for useless swampland, the plot is the goofy vehicle for the dancing and singing that make this 2 ¼ hour show a fly by.
What helps this production pop are the terrific, catchy tunes, written by Sammy Kahn, Frank Sinatra’s longtime lyricist, and Jule Styne, who wrote “Funny Girl” and “Gypsy.”
The choreography, by Linda Goodrich, is a wonder, with the tap-dancing Keystone Kops, an old soft-shoe number, and the afore-mentioned polkas performed flawlessly by 22 actors on a stage merely 21 feet wide.
The period costumes by Gregory Gale are gloriously detailed and numerous, right down to the custom-made high buttoned shoes, elaborate pheasant-feathered hats, highly tailored elegant dresses, and brilliantly colored turn-of-the-century swim suits.
Jennifer Allen who plays Mrs. Sara Longstreet, along with her two bird-watching friends, Mrs. Shirley Anderson, played by West Hartford native Dorothy Stanley and Tillie Hanson, played by Cheryl McMahon, are endlessly funny, and hit just the right note for this non-stop romp.
Russel Arden Koplin who plays Miss Fran Beck stood out among the other solid vocal performances, with a voice that never sounding forced, but was crystal clear and easy to hear over the occasionally dominant orchestra.
Young Emmett Rahn-Oakes, 11, who looks like a young Harry Potter with round wire-rimmed glasses, held his own during the song and intricate dance numbers with the ensemble.
What a joy to have such a jewel of show at such a gem of a theatre tucked away in picturesque East Haddam.
High Button Shoes runs through Sept. 22 with performances Wednesday through Sunday. Tickets cost $26 through $66. For further information call 860-873-8668 or visit their website at www.goodspeed.org