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Valentine’s Day is the last winter holiday, one final bid to get you to leave the house during the coldest time of year in the name of love. Aggressively loud colors, cardio-pumping grand gestures, and a laser focus on positivity keep us going until the milder spring-summer holidays.
Ooh La La, the second show at Can Can’s Paris Theatre, opened in January and will run through March, but mid-February really is this show’s prime season. There’s nudity, yes, but there’s also singing, group dancing, circus aerials and gorgeous costumes—the narrator’s oversized black hat, swishing gracefully with every slight movement of his head, is particularly delightful. Ooh La La is a confectionary treat, an unapologetic break from bleakness that sets its audience down gently back into reality after three acts of fun.
Borrowing pieces of Cabaret and Moulin Rouge!, Ooh La La is just a loose Parisian showcase of glamour inspired by late-night love. It features the same cast as the Can Can’s Paris Theatre’s inaugural show ’Twas the Night Before Nutcracker, but on its media preview night understudies were used in place of Isaiah Esquire and Johnny Nuriel. Brian Nelson and Nicholas Bernard adeptly filled in, with Bernard stepping in masterfully as the master of ceremonies. He kept the spotlight moving where it needed to go while holding down his own in numbers where he was the star. His take on Cabaret’s “Don’t Tell Mama” was a highlight that will be seen again only by chance.
Vintage French pop songs and musical acts make their way into Ooh La La, including Sophia Loren’s “Zou Bisou Bisou,” Jekyll & Hyde’s “Bring On the Men” and Cole Porter’s “I Love Paris.” Coordinated dance numbers by performers in matching showgirl outfits and vintage swimwear come off as polished, but the cast never forgets to have fun. What Nelson and Bernard lack for Esquire and Nuriel’s lived-in stage chemistry they made up for with their own personal sparkle.
Nuriel, castmates Abbe Drake and Cleopatra Slough, and Seattle-based performer Shadou Mintrone are responsible for Ooh La La’s costuming. The cheeky-chic outfits and accessories this team has put together are so fun to watch in motion that it’s nearly a shame they get peeled off. The striptease is tame enough for a first date, friend group, or even an adventurous parent you want to get out of the house more often. Hoop and silk-strip aerial dancing added a flair of excitement and athleticism to the program.
Each act’s six numbers were plenty digestible. If anything, they perhaps flew by a little too quickly—not for lack of substance, but because of how light and enjoyable they were. For how physically demanding the show could be, Ooh La La’s cast members never let the audience see them sweat. The lack of demanding plot allowed the songs and dance numbers to stand on their own, with tight pacing but enough breathing room to feel dreamy in execution and enough shepherding by Bernard to not feel like a talent show of unrelated acts. The show’s whimsy made it difficult to bundle back up and head into the cold of Old Town, but for a few hours there were no bills, no commitments and no growing creep of fascism. That levity stuck around even into the next day. Love is all you need, according to someone out there, but loving love recharges even after the promising potential of the new year wears off.
Later this year, Can Can’s Paris Theatre will use its skills to reimagine the creative works of both Dolly Parton and Alfred Hitchcock (but not at the same time, fortunately or unfortunately). If these shows feature the same cast and understudies, they will still be unique not just for their songs and shimmies, but for how Nuriel, Drake, Slough and Mintrone conceptualize key moments from those artists’ careers. Well into next winter’s Nutcracker show, Can Can Paris Theatre’s audiences will probably let loose an involuntary “ooh la la” or two.
SEE IT: Ooh La La at Can Can’s Paris Theatre, 6 SW 3rd Ave., 503-482-9533, cancanportland.com. 6:30 and 9:30 pm Friday and Saturday and 9:30 pm Sunday, through March 15. $50–$98. 21+.
