See 'Seven Brides For Seven Brothers' at Sacramento’s Music Circus For The Dancing

The Broadway at Music Circus series is doing Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, a comedy of courtship on the Western frontier. This is the seventh Music Circus staging — and there’s one reason in particular to keep coming back: footwork.

There isn’t much in the story department, but it’s got square dancing, waltzes and even a polka, as well as acrobatic flips, lifts, cartwheels and somersaults. It’s a breathtaking display — on opening night, the audience paused the show during the first act, and gave the performers an ovation before intermission.

The story involves seven male siblings carving out a farm in the wild Oregon Territory, circa 1850. They are hard workers, but hapless housekeepers, and they only occasionally bathe.

Enter seven lovely young women. The guys decide to clean up their act, and the girls start civilizing their beaus by teaching them basic dance steps.

The plot is pretty hokey; there’s a chase scene in which the good guys get away by firing a loud gunshot, triggering a snow avalanche. But you should see Seven Brides for Seven Brothers for the dancing, which in this production is amazing. Kudos to choreographer Patti Colombo, who makes everything work on a small round stage, and the large cast of limber young dancers, who whirl their way through one strenuous number after another, grinning as they kick their legs high. It really is spectacular.