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Seattle Post-Intelligencer Friday January 8, 1982 fty 0. Catty Coer P-l Theater Critic . . . As they promised, "Seven ferides Mr Seven Brothers" dances, dances, dances. Andthe dancing is terrific, Just rowing enough ft* the show to overcome its considerable book and structural problems. .- With all the hoopla, Mushing romance ?╟≤od good, times of s Saturday square dance, ?╟úSeven Brides,*' which opened last night at the 5th Avenue, fails somewhere between a revival and a new musical The show, about an,Oregon mountain* man's decision to get hlnseU a wife and his six brother*?╟╓ ill-considered effort* to get themselves brides, derives from the 1964 MOM musical with Jane Powell and Howard Keel and the subsequent Broadway musical, but producers Lawrence Kasha and David Landay have added a new -book and eight hew songs. - >>. The new tongs, generally characterized with a peppy tempo and an overall modern sound, fail to mesh properly with the old Gene de Paul-Johnny Mercer tunes. Only one, ?╟úLove Never Goto Away,?╟Ñ, a bittersweet ballad, Stitias out among the new material. It?╟╓s pleasant, but not particularly memorable. It is the new Kasha-Landay book, however, that causes enormous problems Pew characters are defined and, a they are, the Job is done so hastily we?╟╓ve hardly got their names straight when one event leaps to the next. Indeed, act one offers so many scenes that one suspects the authors timed the proceedings with TV commercial Interruptions in mind. In act two, events show a calmer, more confident pacing, though even then scenes don?╟╓t develop and end so much as dribble to a close. THEATER REVIEW 9 .........ms. ?√ß u I?╟╓toBhUi ?√ß s'. ?╟╓ , ,.,1 HlWtofllft- Seven Brides for Seven Brothers Produced/ sod co-authored by lawrehce Kasha sod David. landay, with Kasha ^tHrsclor,. QB$t DGbbOt Boons, David-James fJsrrfll ; Craift, Pf*eHa>Tr Nancy Fox Sets afcMKJhis t>y HC^art PanM^Hu ; costumes by Robert Fletcher, choreography bp>> . Jerry Jackson Through Jen v 30 Tickets (te-a ?·4) 625-1900 JAilaii . Ail that saMrfc cub be reported-that--?╟úSeven Brides?╟Ñ leaps above Its atumMlhg / blocks and offers a genuinely Uplifting,*, evening of fun. Credit goes to Dewy. * Boone, who doesn?╟╓t act vrty well, but sings * nicely; to costar Davidslames Carroll, as -?╟≤ ; Boone?╟╓s farmer husband, who thankfully:,', tan perform all tub with skill; Uttth . around accomplished company-W htagtoJ'.', danceri-actors as the legendary brides and. ?╟  brothers; to gorgeous costumes and sets (of. .a stone-and tlmber mountain home, a Phe> neer town, a horse-drawn carriage, a forest and ittorer, and to CrUg Peralta and Nancy Fox as the young pupa who dlscov- -to love. ?√ß?√ß ?√ß'?╟≤'?√ß.?╟≤si.":- ?╟  A good measure of professionalism eJP noted the company to perform handsomely..despite a variety of technical goofs and , embarrassments ?√ß?╟÷ one drop piece tore open, things went bump backstage and wrong sets were hauled out only to be quickly withdrawn. Perhaps such clunkers can be forgiven, considering that the show made its debut only weeks ago In San Diego, where it ran briefly during ! the Christmas holiday, and the fact the show has so many rapid and complicated set changes. DavM-JafiMt Carroll and Debby Boone share a scene In the musical. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, which opened last night at the 5th Avenue. as R Wat Mlehaet Kidd's choreg or aptly that distinguished the MGM musical, the current production boasts knockout dance sequences by Jerry Jackson, whose work suggests the life and whoop* nd-hollcr of ?╟úOklahoma!?╟Ñ The producers have wisely emphasised the show?╟╓s footwork in advertising, because no one individual car- ries the show. The Only criticism one can ?╟≤ direct at the dancing Is. It's so pulsing, noisy and rip-rbarTn" there sTTotHtTbe mbrcij III April. ?╟úSeven Brides?╟Ñ heads for Broadway, where the critical winds blow very hard. This well-meaning shou may not make it. lies -L /A ?╟≤Tv?╟÷?√? ?√ß*"**> ?╟≤ i r