Dancing Down Memory Lane

It’s always nice to see footage of Fred Astaire dancing with someone other than a Dirt Devil.

A virtual WWF Smackdown of movie musical nostalgia, “A Celebration of the Classic Hollywood Musicals” may have a title that sounds like a subtitle. But the show’s not preoccupied with cleverness. It’s on-the-nose and heart-on-the-sleeve, laden with clips galore. Continuing through Sunday at the Pasadena Civic, the tribute features June Allyson, Cyd Charisse, Gloria DeHaven, Betty Garrett and Tony Martin.

I can’t be the only baby boomer who happened upon “Good News” on TV one night at a susceptible age and fell utterly for Allyson. (Joan McCracken, too, actually.) I’ve been a goner for DeHaven ever since I saw “Best Foot Forward.” Reet! I thought. This canary’s murder.

Charisse? I suppose it was sometime and someplace around mid-calf in her introductory close-up in “Singin’ in the Rain.” And Garrett--always a pleasure, ever the “spunky, good-time gal” as described in “A Celebration of the Classic Hollywood Musicals” by master of ceremonies Tom Bosley.

Bosley hosts; the auxiliary vocalists are Broadway-trained Debbie Gravitte (very good) and Lee Roy Reams (working way too hard). They’re backed by four dancers paying homage to “Dancing in the Dark” (from “The Band Wagon”), “Get Happy” (“Summer Stock”) and the like.

“A Celebration of the Classic Hollywood Musicals” features such mixed-media curios as 88-year-old Martin vocalizing while his younger self warbles silently on screen behind him. At one point the orchestra, conducted by Jeff Rizzo, re-creates the Conrad Salinger charts from the “Singin’ in the Rain” title number. We watch Gene Kelly in the rain on screen, in other words, while the orchestra plays live.

The show’s scripted material (credited to Tom Viola and John Miller, with an assist from Murray Horwitz) is very much in line with the “That’s Entertainment!” pictures. Charisse shares memories of working with, and initially against, an errant bubble-making machine on “Ziegfeld Follies.” Garrett speaks to Sinatra’s generosity on “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” She and Bosley sing “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.” Charisse and Martin, married many decades now, trot out some specially tailored lyrics for “I Remember It Well.”

Garrett and DeHaven fare especially well throughout.

Fond, impromptu renditions of “You Stepped Out of a Dream” could be heard in the lobby during intermission.

BE THERE

“A Celebration of the Classic Hollywood Musicals,” Pasadena Civic Auditorium, 300 E. Green St., Pasadena. Today and Friday, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Ends Sunday. $21-$61. (213) 365-3500. Running time: 2 hours, 30 min.

The Cast

June Allyson, Cyd Charisse, Gloria DeHaven, Betty Garrett, Tony Martin, Tom Bosley, Debbie Gravitte, Lee Roy Reams, Kristin Kendall, David Parker, Leslie Stevens, Sven Toorvald.

Written by Tom Viola and John Miller. Directed, choreographed by Daniel Stewart. Musical director Larry Blank. Film sequences by David Engel. Creative consultant Murray Horwitz. Production supervisor Kevin Brannick.