Posted on Fri, Jun. 27, 2008

Showbiz history is littered with the ghosts of partner acts that sizzled, then splintered. Think Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Robert Goulet and Carol Lawrence, Sonny and Cher.

The folks at Boca Raton's Caldwell Theatre Company also want you to think Pete 'n' Keely.

The fictitious couple, former spouses who most strongly resemble Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme (that is, if Steve had a bit of Desi Arnaz in him), are supposedly reuniting for a 1968 television special. The Caldwell crowd is the studio audience. And predictably, try though Pete (Alberto Stévans) and Keely (Connie SaLoutos) do to recapture the magic of their former top-of-the-charts partnership, it isn't long before the knives come out.

No, not the critical knives, though that will happen soon enough.

The couple's split, we gradually learn, was due to Keely's drinking and Pete's incompatible penchants for domesticity and philandering. As the two sing and banter, the sparring and digs resume, and old wounds are reopened. Yet by the end of 100 minutes that seem far longer, America's 'swingin' sweethearts'' have kissed, made up and apparently reversed the course of their tanking solo careers.

Neil Simon worked the bickering partners thing so much better in The Sunshine Boys.

James Hindman's cornball book and the original songs by Patrick Brady and Mark Waldrop are the weakest parts of show, with a ''Broadway'' sequence clearly inspired by the likes of Jerry Herman and Jule Styne, far better composers. A witty parody of these acts and the era might have provided the kind of summer fun for which Caldwell artistic director Michael Hall is aiming, but Pete 'n' Keely is nearly devoid of wit, not to mention short on genuine sentiment.

What it does have going for it, however, is the terrific musical direction of Eric Alsford, Barbara Flaten's choreography (which both honors and makes fun of the era), Stévans' robust baritone and, most of all, SaLoutos.

Though T. Michael Hall's costumes, which go for parody and mostly miss, don't generally flatter her, SaLoutos is a knockout singer, whether scatting, singing a sultry Black Coffee, doing the uptempo This Could be the Start of Something Big -- well, anything. You can easily imagine SaLoutos giving Gorme a run for her money, whereas Stévans may remind you of every cheesetastic ''headliner'' you've encountered in a not-exactly-upscale hotel lounge.