Mayor Matilda Hyde never makes a public appearance without backup: the brawny, closed-mouthed Sheriff Earl. Lynne R. Sigler gives the mayor the proper smug confidence. Daniel L. McDonald, as Earl, is a pillar of mute support until the final scene, when he astonishes the mayor and the audience.
Shaunte Tabb and Jeffrey Shankle bring the charm of youth to the show's star-crossed lovers, the mayor's son, Dean, and the cafe owner's daughter, Lorraine.
As Miss Sandra, tour guide at the local art museum, Tamarin K. Lawler morphs impressively from a cool intellectual into a sexy intellectual.
The plot seems simple and familiar at first but soon develops into a series of shifting romantic triangles (Dennis, Chad and Natalie; Chad, Jim, and Sandra; Sandra, Chad and "Ed," and on and on).
At the end, DiPietro neatly pairs everyone off. Some of his couples might not have been likely 50 years ago, but the modern audience at Toby's accepted them cheerfully.
Costume designers Janine Gulisano-Sunday and Lawrence B. Munsey treat the audience to a dazzling spectacle in one of the museum scenes. A half-dozen actors are transformed into strikingly effective statues: Mercury, complete with winged helmet and feet; a grouping of the Three Graces; an Egyptian pharaoh; Rodin's The Thinker, and Degas' The Little Dancer.
Also worth attention are the walls around the theater, where scenic artist Richard Montgomery has created charming suggestions of the 1950s scene - a bus terminal, a roller coaster and a service station.
"Service station" - that's a term we don't hear much these days. Americans might have been inhibited before rock music came to liberate them, but they did get service with their gasoline.
Toby's Dinner Theatre, 5900 Symphony Woods Road, Columbia, presents "All Shook Up" through Aug. 24. Evenings: Doors open at 6 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays, 5 p.m. Sundays. Matinees: Doors open 10:30 a.m. Sundays and Wednesdays. Reservations are required. Information: 410-730-8311 or 800-888-6297.
