By Emily R. Zarevich, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
It’s the Prohibition era in New York in the 1920s. That means no drinks and no fun allowed. But a millionaire playboy is going to celebrate his forthcoming marriage to his fourth wife — yes, his fourth wife — anyway. Bring on the bathtub gin!
In a lively speakeasy hidden away in a sketchy basement, Jimmy Winter (Joshua Fleming) sings of cavorting his life away in a dizzying party boy existence while his friends guzzle down glass after glass of illegal booze. Meanwhile, just outside the speakeasy’s doors, the spunky and sneaky bootlegger Billie Bendix (played by Kathryn Sears) is delivering the goods with her loyal gang consisting of Duke Mahoney (played by Mark Rotil, who previously appeared in last year’s Young Frankenstein as a hunchbacked lab assistant) and Cookie McGee (played by Ian McKechnie). Jimmy and Billie’s fates are intertwined in more ways than just a good stiff drink, and a wacky series of events plays out in Jimmy’s Long Island beach house will decide whether or not, in a reversal of the quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, rich boys marry poor girls.
On Friday, May 8, 2026, Drury Lane Theatre enjoyed a riotous opening night of the snazzy and jazzy musical romantic comedy Nice Work If You Can Get It, featuring songs from the iconic duo George and Ira Gershwin. Although there was no prohibition and Drury Lane’s bar was selling drinks legally, the house was still sold out. Director Stacey Tiller stepped up to direct this toe-tapping spectacle that spins together hard partying, hard liquor, and even harder-to-navigate romantic affairs.
Jimmy Winter finds himself torn between the tomboyish and independent Billie and his would-be fiancée, the flaky diva and interpretive dancer Eileen Evergreen (played by Alyssa di Marco). Hot on the trail of the bootlegger squad is the indomitable temperance activist Duchess Estonia Dulworth (Karyn Monk), the leader of the Society of Dry Women (an unfortunate name), who is working directly with the authorities. The Duchess may find she’s not immune to vice either. And, of course, it wouldn’t be the 1920s without flapper girls in frills, feathers, and fringes: Jordan Brunet, Jasmine Muszik, Hannah Ladwig, and Daphne Clark make up the dazzling chorus girls.
Joshua Fleming, the lead, was performing with an ankle injury on opening night, which dramatically reduced the amount of dancing he could do with the rest of the cast. However, some clever tweaks in the choreography (organized by Steve Cota) camouflaged this, and all went as planned. Fleming has a true Broadway-style singing voice that carries and holds a lot of personality. His Jimmy is cheeky but misguided and lost in life. The leading lady, Kathryn Sears, plays bootlegger Billie with a lot of brash charm, shifting between being laugh-out-loud funny and heartbreakingly vulnerable. Billie’s got a lot of walls up for self-protection, but over the course of the musical, they come crashing down in heartfelt numbers such as “Someone to Watch Over Me.” Fleming and Sears, as a duo falling in love, won over the audience with the certified crowd-pleaser “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off.” People know this one and happily sang along. Potato, po-tah-to, tomato, to-mah-to, indeed.
The cast and crew busily and speedily worked like clockwork on opening night to carry through astonishingly smooth scene transitions. The storyline of Nice Work If You Can Get It moves from room to room in what is meant to be a large and luxurious Long Island mansion owned by a nouveau riche family, showing off their outstanding wealth. The designs by Stacey Tiller (who operated as both director and set designer in putting together this show) are simple, efficient, and convincing. In just under a minute, a stylish bathroom where a new bride pampers herself transforms into an open-air lounge where criminals disguised as servants run around manically trying to stay in character. Costume coordinators Carrie Mines and Mary Buzzelli and crew made sure the cast was appropriately outfitted as a crowd of post-war merrymakers throwing off the constraints of the last century’s stuffy attitudes. The flapper girls are bedazzled, the men in suits are slick. Occasionally, a dancer lost a hat during a number, but no one believes that all hats stayed on neatly during the real Roaring Twenties.
The plot of Nice Work If You Can Get It may seem outlandish and improbable at times. The premise is so bizarre, and the romances between characters progress at such whirlwind speeds that it’s almost like partaking in a 1920s-themed pantomime. The humour is cheesy and entertaining, consisting of wisecracks, slapstick and sexual innuendos. The music is energetic and vigorous. The cast really looks like they’re having a genuinely good time. Nice Work If You Can Get It succeeds as being improbable but fun, and suitably represents the time period it takes place in. The 1920s felt like a brand new reality after the war. People were impulsive and desperate to live life to the fullest.
Nice Work If You Can Get It at Drury Lane will continue until Sunday, May 31, 2026. Tickets are flying out fast, so it’s advisable to snatch one up while the speakeasy is still open. Following the closure of the show, Drury Lane Theatre will throw itself into preparations for its next 2026/2027 season. On Friday, November 8, Drury Lane will be wrapping up the Christmas presents and hanging up the lights for a production of A Christmas Story, adapted from the famous 1983 film. Will Ralphie Parker get the air rifle he wants for Christmas, or will the adults in his life stand between him and his childhood dreams? Tickets can be bought here.
