The dueling divas turned into the dueling mamas – with one papa tossed in for good measure.
Dawn DiNome and Sue Schuler got together for the fifth version of “Dueling Divas” Thursday night at the Savannah Center. Ralph DiNome, Dawn’s father, was also on the bill along with Dance Fusion.
There was plenty of singing and dancing but also something else: the two ladies shared the stage with their daughters, as they sang the Carole King classic: “You’ve Got a Friend.” It was a tender, heartfelt and emotional moment.
“You can’t cry and sing at the same time, but it’s tough when you’re singing to your daughter,” Dawn DiNome said after serenading her young child, Olivia. “It was extremely hard to choke back the tears,” Schuler added as she performed with her grown daughter, Jennifer Slayton.
Schuler and DiNome showed why they are among the most versatile and talented singers in The Villages. Both can perform just about any style of music, including opera, spirituals, rock and Broadway show tunes. The loving mothers turned into Red Hot Mamas on a spicy and sexy version of “Big Spender.”
This was an entertaining and fast paced show that lasted about 90 minutes. DiNome and Schuler kept up the comical chatter between numbers and displayed unique kinship on stage. “We have the same sense of humor and we crack each other up,” Schuler said. “We have fun together but we’re not afraid to take risks,” DiNome said.
At one point, DiNome appeared on stage with a white gown.
“Is that your wedding dress,” Schuler asked.
“No,” DiNome replied. “This is how I always dress on Holy Thursday.”
Schuler and DiNome met every musical challenge.
Schuler’s classical training was on display during an operatic number and she also delivered powerhouse versions of “Memory” and “I Dreamed a Dream.”
DiNome was just as magnetic on a number of songs, including “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina,” “Being Alive” and a melancholy, “I Don’t Know How to Love Him.”
Jennifer Slayton delivered a comic performance on “Part of Your World,” from “Little Mermaid.” She changed some of the lyrics to fit The Villages, and it included lines about golf carts, town squares and the joy of retirement.
Slayton just moved to Florida and Schuler was delighted to have her daughter and “the grandchildren close by.”
“Yes, but now you have to babysit,” DiNome told her.
“This has been a year of change for both or us and that’s one of the themes to this show,” Schuler said. “My daughter moved down here and Dawn got married.”
The two then combined for one of the night’s highlights, “I Am Changing” from “Dreamgirls.”
DiNome talked about her marriage, “and I found the right guy. It took 35 years. I was holding out for a hero.” That intro was perfect for a rocking and soulful “Holding Out for a Hero” from “Footloose.”
Ralph DiNome, meanwhile, showed his vocal chops on a couple of Elvis numbers, “Teddy Bear” and “Don’t Be Cruel.” He started to really wail on “Jailhouse Rock,” but daughter Dawn, in a comical bit, forced her cool-rocking Daddy off stage because “I don’t approve,” she said.
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Dance Fusion was jumping and jiving all over the stage. The dance company showed some Disney moves on “Be Our Guest” and then banged the garbage cans hard on “Stomp.”
The dancers joined DiNome, Schuler and everyone else in the finale: the classic Broadway stage number, “Anything Goes.” The tap-dancing extravaganza was an entertaining climax to a night that proved two divas are always better than one.
