THE PLAY: Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra meet up in heaven and sing. This was inspired by Randy Strawderman’s 1999 production.

THE PRODUCTION: “You came back!” was the first thing Desirée Roots said when she entered and it was obvious that both performers were thrilled to be back on stage. Sadly, their efforts were undermined by bad sound on opening nite. The band under the direction of Larri Branch sounded great, but the singers were drowned out. Even so, Roots and Scott Wichmann did a nice job as song stylists, avoiding almost any vocal pyrytechnics. Wichmann’s “New York, New York” was a highlight (curiously, no “My Way”) and Roots got lots of love for her scatting. To director Katrinah Carol Lewis’ credit, the duo is enjoying each other and the staging keeps them moving. Set designer Josafath Reynoso used a a low-budget but attractive backdrop of paper lanterns and wooden frames with BJ Wilkinson’s lighting to regularly add color washes. The costumes by Sue Griffin and Keith Walker featured 3 dresses for Ella, two of which were lovely, but the green satin dress was poorly finished. Running time: 1:17

THE POINT: Basically, this is a concert with a few lines of patter, which sometimes offered tiny insights into the duo’s careers. The singers were having a great time, but the sound mix undermined their performances. (3 / 5)

At Virginia Rep’s November Theatre thru 9/12

Here’s the video of the opening nite ribbon cutting to “launch” Richmond’s theatre community’s return.