CENTER STAGE: Smell the Shoe

The first act of the Loafers' fall show "Smell the Shoe" was uninspired and, at times, clumsy. A medley of Eric Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight" and "Tears in Heaven" did justice to neither song, and senior tenor Brian Nolan fumbled the lyrics halfway through Billy Joel's "Pressure" -- though he did recover and keep going. There were first-half highlights -- notably a lush arrangement of Terence Trent D'Arby's "Sign Your Name," with sensual lead vocals by senior alto Cara de la Cruz -- but the Loafers were definitely upstaged by the two guest groups from Cornell, the all-female After Eight and the all-male Hangovers. The Hangovers in particular roared through their set. Their arrangements were much more polished than Penny Loafers', and their renditions of "Mack the Knife" and Paul Simon's "Obvious Child" (complete with a recreation of the drum solos), in the words of David Letterman, "blew the roof off the dump." As the show went into intermission, the Loafers appeared to be totally outclassed, with no prayer of finishing the night as top dogs. But, like the Penn football team did earlier in the day, the Loafers saved their best stuff for the second half, eventually pulling away to "victory." De la Cruz's vocals on Kansas' "Dust in the Wind" were top-notch, and a half-dozen Loafer alums joined the current group for Simon & Garfunkel's "Cecilia" (a Loafer standard) without missing a beat. Even Nolan got a chance for redemption from his first-act miscue, delivering haunting lead vocals on an intricate arrangement of Bruce Springsteen's "Streets of Philadelphia." The comeback was capped by freshman baritone Casey Smith's vibrant rendition of the Eagles' "Hotel California." As the Loafers ran off-stage (before returning for a two-song encore), the crowd roared its approval. Penn had triumphed over Cornell twice in one day. --Alan Sepinwall (three stars) Smell The Shoe Group: Penny Loafers Director: Elisa Greenwood