Ahoy there! 'Dames at Sea' sets sail at Florida Studio Theatre

“Dames at Sea” has docked at Florida Studio Theatre. Robin Miller and George Haimsohn wrote the musical’s script and lyrics; Jim Wise composed its score. It’s a loving homage to 1930s musicals, not a satirical slap. It’s funny and how! 

But short on originality. If you’ve ever seen a Busby Berkeley movie (or one of its imitators), you always know what’s coming. But here’s a plot summary anyway …

The musical opens with a backstage meet-cute in a WPA theater on Broadway in the 1930s. The theater is putting on a musical — “Dames at Sea.” Fresh off the bus from Centerville, Utah, comes Ruby (Emily Ann Brooks), a wannabe chorus girl. She bumps into Dick (Devin Johnson), a wannabe songwriter who’s in the Navy. It’s love at first sight! 

When the director Joel Newsome spies them, it’s casting at first sight. Ruby and Dick are instantly hired for the show.

Mona, the diva/star of “Dames at Sea” (Jenna Coker-Jones) takes a fancy to the sailor/songwriter and gives him a big smooch. It wasn’t Dick’s idea, but Ruby thinks she's been thrown over. Her heart is broken.

Then a wrecking ball breaks into the theater. All is lost, right? Wrong! Dick has a crazy idea that just might work. “Dames at Sea” is set on a battleship, right? Why not use his ship as a theater? Charmed by Mona, Dick’s captain (Newsome again) agrees. Hearts heal. The show goes on. Is that the sound of wedding bells I hear?

Director/choreographer Ben Liebert steers this madcap musical ship with a clever mix of choreography and slapstick. (His rat-a-tat tap-dancing numbers are great, though they make me feel uncoordinated.) He’s amped up the farce factor on the song and dance with bits of comic business right out of a Marx Brothers movie. My favorite gag’s the one where Mona keeps trying to strike a seductive pose on top of a piano — and keeps sliding off.

The actors make the most of their stock 1930s characters. Johnson’s Dick is a wide-eyed sailor with a song in his heart and dancing feet. Brooks’ Ruby is a starry-eyed ingenue with a big heart and legs that won’t quit. She’s great as this gee-whiz, good girl, always a thankless part. 

Coker-Jones has far more fun playing Mona. Her cad girl character’s definitely on Santa’s naughty list. Just like Tux, Mona’s snarling pet Pomeranian, this domineering diva is fluffy, pretty and vicious. 

Dick’s shipmate Lucky (Larry Toyter) and Joan (Kelsey Stalter) hit all the right screwball comedy notes in their romantic banter. Newsome plays both the ship's captain and the director. Both authority figures are bullish, hassled and past their prime. On land or sea, their respective jobs are like herding cats.

Songs like “Broadway Baby” and “Choo-Choo Honeymoon” sound familiar — by design. The musical’s daffy, charming tunes are sound-alikes of the period — but knock-offs, not rip-offs. (And satire’s fair use.) A three-piece band, led with panache by music director David Caldwell, punches above its weight and keeps the music flowing.

The show looks as good as it sounds. Isabel and Moriah Curley-Clay’s shape-shifting set does double duty as a Broadway theater and a battleship. K. April Soroko’s period costumes are a perfect fit for the show’s nostalgic comic vibe.

“Dames at Sea” is a musical layer cake of corny conventions. Its plot is a roller coaster of lucky breaks, unlucky problems, plucky solution, love scenes and pep talks. That’s the plot of every Busby Berkeley movie. 

The musical’s creators shamelessly stole his recipe. And carefully followed it — aside from the fact that Berkeley had armies of leggy chorus girls and this parody has a cast of six. But that’s part of the joke.

It adds up to a very funny spoof. If your experience of musical comedy begins with “Spamalot,” you might miss the show’s nostalgic/ satirical point. But it’s still a boatload of laughs.